Six suspended police instructors from a halted law enforcement program at Blue Ridge Community College in Henderson County are set to appear before a state board with the power to revoke trainer and law enforcement certifications.
That is according to the chair of the North Carolina Criminal Justice Education and Training Standards Commission who confirmed the hearings to Citizen Times May 31. They will follow an official May 8 decision to suspend the college program due to what commission members said were "egregious rule violations."
"The instructors will appear before the probable cause committee in August. In these cases, as in all cases that come before us, there is a range of options that could result from these cases being heard, to include revocations of law enforcement or instructor certifications," Commission Chair Chris Blue told the Citizen Times May 31.
The Citizen Times sent June 4 follow-up questions about the hearing. But Blue, who is town manager for Chapel Hill, said he was in meetings and unable to respond by deadline.
Blue in his May 31 responses declined to answer some questions including what the violations were or whether anyone had been injured.
"Right now, we are unable to comment on the particular details of these cases as they have not been heard by our probable cause committee," the chair said.
Unfounded assault complaint, program halted
A student of the Blue Ridge Community College program brought a complaint in November to Hendersonville police alleging he had been assaulted by a college trainer employed by Henderson County Sheriff's Office. But the complaint was determined to be unfounded, according to Police Chief Blair Myhand, who said District Attorney Andrew Murray was consulted and agreed. The deputy declined to comment and the student could not be reached.
Sheriff Lowell Griffin has defended the deputy, saying he remains on full duty and "in good standing." In a June 4 interview with the Citizen Times Griffin said he had not been told any of his deputies were among the six to appear before the commission.
"By policy, If I had a deputy here who had a certification suspended, then they would be required to notify me," Griffin said.
The Citizen Times has made a public records request to the N.C. Community College System for personnel records of all the program's instructors.
Asked about the August hearings, college spokesperson Erica Allison on June 4 said, "Blue Ridge hopes to see a resolution in the near future and will continue to collaborate with the CJ Standards Commission to make that happen."
The college actually first paused its Basic Law Enforcement Training program last fall. That was due to "concerning conditions and actions of certain instructors," Allison has said.
The BLET program reopened in spring 2024 after consultation with the criminal justice standards commission, she said. But the commission voted May 8 to shut it down again after finding "egregious rule violations related to the BLET Subject Control Arrest Techniques block of instruction," according to the commission's draft minutes of that meeting.
The commission voted to suspend accreditation of the college's BLET program, its Speed Measurement Instrument school, its instructor school "and delivery of all other commission courses."
The expedited action was taken because of "a serious and unforeseen threat to public health, safety and welfare," the commission said.
Joel Burgess has lived in WNC for more than 20 years, covering politics, government and other news. He's written award-winning stories on topics ranging from gerrymandering to police use of force. Got a tip? Contact Burgess at jburgess@citizentimes.com, 828-713-1095 or on Twitter @AVLreporter. Please help support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.
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