Public Safety, Department of

by Michelle Czaikowski Underhill

NC Government & Heritage Library, 2012.

Effective January 1, 2012, three previously separate state agencies, the Departments of Correction, Crime Control and Public Safety, and Juvenile Justice and Delinquency merged to form the North Carolina Department of Public Safety. With over 26,500 full time employees, the Department of Public Safety is the largest state agency in North Carolina. Previously, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, with over 19,000 employees, held that designation. Plans to merge the three agencies into one were announced by Governor Perdue in December of 2010. Reuben Young, who had been serving as Secretary for the Department of Crime Control and Public Safety, was appointed the first Secretary of the Department of Public Safety.

Structurally, the Department of Public Safety contains three divisions: Adult Correction, Law Enforcement, and Juvenile Justice. Additional sections and programs include Emergency Management and the North Carolina National Guard.