GREENVILLE, NC (WNCT) – According to the CDC, six teenagers die every day in car accidents.
Car manufacturers are working to stop distracted teen driving by implementing new safety features.
Ford, Hyundai, and Chevy all have new systems that are available in some models. The 2016 Chevy Malibu has a new system called Teen Driver.
Parents can program the teen’s key fab, so they know what the driver is doing when behind the wheel.
ST. MARTINVILLE, La. – The killing of a mentally ill man in his south Louisiana home during a struggle with sheriff’s deputies last month appears to fit a troubling, tragic pattern.
Michael Noel, 32, struggled for years to get treatment for his paranoid schizophrenia. The deputies who confronted Noel last month were carrying out a protective custody order so he could be involuntarily hospitalized. Experts see evidence suggesting the problem of deadly confrontations between law enforcement officers and people with mental illness has worsened as governments dismantle networks of health care services.
The North Carolina Sheriffs’ Association recognized Senator Tom Apodaca in early January as a 2015 Defender of Public Safety for the work he did during the 2015 legislative session to protect public safety in North Carolina.
Senator Apodaca dedicated time and effort during the session advocating for law enforcement issues that impact the office of sheriff, local communities and the state.
ASHEBORO — 
Robert Graves, a retired state trooper, will be the next Randolph County sheriff.
Graves will take the oath of office at the Feb. 1 meeting of the Randolph County commissioners.
“I’m very humbled and excited to go to work,” Graves said Monday night moments after members of the Randolph County Republican Executive Committee tapped him as their nominee to fill the unexpired term of Sheriff Maynard Reid.
“I look forward to the challenge of working with all the fine employees at the sheriff’s office. I’m ready to go to work.”
TAZEWELL COUNTY, Va. — 
A Virginia sheriff’s office is adding a new feature to its cruisers: a simple decal that says “In God We Trust.”
WASHINGTON – Before issuing thousands of permits each year for North Carolinians to buy handguns, sheriffs in Mecklenburg, Union and some other counties across the state have gone through an oft-futile exercise.
Relying on statutory language allowing them to ensure each gun owner is of “good moral character,” they have submitted applicants’ names to large health care facilities seeking to learn whether anyone was suicidal or otherwise mentally unfit to own a pistol.
Under the 1968 federal Gun Control Act, the sheriffs’ offices are entitled to know whether an applicant is disqualified from owning a firearm because he or she has been found by a court to be mentally ill, unable to manage his own affairs or a danger to himself and others.
ROCKINGHAM — A Richmond County man is accused of running an illegal gambling operation.Sheriff’s deputies arrested 74-year-old Peter Thomas MacMillan of Sanford Street on Jan. 12, following an undercover investigation.
Investigators say they found four video poker machines.
“We got complaints from the community and our officers investigated and made an arrest,” Sheriff James E. Clemmons Jr. said Tuesday.
MacMillan was charged with one misdemeanor count each of operating or possessing slot machines and allowing gaming tables on his premises and released on a $5,000 unsecured bond.
BAYBORO, Pamlico County – Pamlico County Commissioners approved a $160,000 budget for security upgrades in the courthouse.
Sheriff Chris Davis said ever since he came into office, security in the courthouse has been a priority.
“For far too long, courthouse security has not received the attention that it deserves in Pamlico County,” Davis said.
Sheriff Davis created a proposal which he presented in front of county commissioners on Monday. Security improvements include upgrades to cameras, the addition of metal detector screening and one-way locking doors.
Starting in February, new security procedures 
will take place at the Beaufort County Courthouse.
The changes will include modifying access to building entrances, security screening checkpoints and video surveillance, said officials. All pedestrian traffic will be directed to two exterior entrances. Other building entrances will be closed off.
County officials said Universal Protection Services from Greenville will be assisting with additional security. The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office will continue to secure the courtrooms and other specific areas of the courthouse.
Knightdale, N.C. — On Dec. 10, a desperate mother crossed paths with a compassionate police officer and learned a lesson about human nature she hopes will inspire others.
Natasha Nicholls, an out-of-work graduate student, is sandwiched between caring for an 8-year-old son and her 76-year-old mother. As Christmas approached, she worried about being able to provide for them.
“I didn’t want to see my son disappointed for Christmas,” she said. “I had to have something for him.”