Perdue names six for restructuring

Gov. Bev Perdue on Friday named six North Carolinians to a bipartisan panel that will provide advice as the State Highway Patrol prepares a report on restructuring the organization and naming a new commander.

The members’ backgrounds include expertise in law enforcement, state government and the business and legal communities.

The six members named are:

• Burley Mitchell — former chief justice of the N.

C. Supreme Court, former judge on the N.C. Court of Appeals, former secretary of Crime Control and Public Safety, former Wake County district attorney and now with the Womble Carlyle law firm.

• Julius Chambers — professor of law and director of the Center for Civil Rights at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, former chancellor of N.C. Central University, former director of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund.

• Chris Swecker — former assistant director of the criminal division of the FBI, the No. 3 role in the bureau, former executive assistant director for the law enforcement branch for the FBI, former special agent in charge of the FBI’s North Carolina offices, former prosecutor, now a lawyer and global security and fraud consultant based in Charlotte.

• Peter Gilchrist — district attorney for Mecklenburg County since 1975, member of the board of directors of the Council for State Governments Justice Center.

• Ralph Walker — former judge on the N.C. Court of Appeals, former director of the N.C. Administrative Office of the Courts, former superior court judge, former prosecutor, former county attorney.

• Norma Houston — UNC School of Government faculty, specializing in ethics and emergency management law, former assistant attorney general, former attorney for Dare County, former chief of staff to the president pro tem of the N.C. Senate.

“This panel’s insight and experience will be especially beneficial as we chart a new course for the patrol that will reestablish their reputation as one of the premier law enforcement agencies in the nation,” Perdue said. “The men and women who serve — and our citizens — deserve nothing less.”

The advisory group will provide advice to Department of Crime Control and Public Safety Secretary Reuben Young on a selection process for a new commander. Perdue further set three goals for the group and their final report, asking them to provide:

• Recommendations on the

patrol’s structure and policies, including the selection of a new commander.

•

Consideration of any legislative recommendations for the next session necessary to enact further reform.

• Rebuilding the focus on integrity, honor and the proud heritage of the patrol.

The report will be due to Young by Sept. 1.