City to hold final GPAC call-in tonight
By John Joyce
Published in News on November 17, 2015 1:46 PM
The public is invited to Goldsboro's historic City Hall tonight at 6 p.m. to take part in this year's final Goldsboro Partners Against Crime community partnership call-in.
GPAC is an anti-violent- crime initiative based on a national program called Project Safe Neighborhoods and was modeled specifically for Goldsboro after a similar program used in High Point.
Tonight, Goldsboro becomes the model as authorities here will host officials from Elizabeth City interested in starting their own program.
"The initiative is not a strategy to forgive offenders," according to a press release issued Monday.
The program instead offers a "select group" of offenders a second chance by providing connections to community-based programs that offer assistance with job placement, work certification, substance abuse and child care.
To date, since the program's inception in 2012, 187 offenders have been notified. Only 24 have been caught reoffending, GPAC coordinator Capt. Theresa Chiero said.
"Of those, nine have been convicted either in state court or in federal court," she said. "But the majority of them are working and have not reoffended."
Capt. Chiero said not all of the offenders notified who have since found work have used the community assistance programs offered to them. Some have done so on their own. For those still struggling to find work or the help they need to turn their backs on a life of crime, those assistance programs still exist, she said.
But the offer of assistance comes with a warning. The Goldsboro police chief, the Wayne County sheriff and top officials from the U.S. Attorney's Office, the district attorney, as well as members of the FBI, the DEA, The U.S. Marshals Service and probation and parole each deliver stern messages during the quarterly call-ins.
The offenders are told in no uncertain terms that if they are caught breaking the law again, they will be prosecuted by the agency -- whether locally or federally -- that can guarantee the most time per a conviction.
Speakers also include parents of children who lost their lives to street violence and officials from the school system.
The call-in begins at 6 p.m. with a community portion followed by the message from law enforcement and a short video. Citizens are encouraged to attend.
"This is an open forum. People in the audience, at the end of the program, can have a minute or two to address the offenders, but we do have to keep it short," Capt. Chiero said.
"The message is the same, though. We want the violence in the community to stop," she said.