ROANOKE RAPIDS — North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper brought his law and order message to the Roanoke Valley Friday with a heavy dose of advice on a unique way to prevent identity theft.

Roger Bell | The Daily Herald North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper addressed the Roanoke Valley Chamber of Commerce Public Affairs Committee at Timeless Tea on the Avenue Friday afternoon. Advertisement

Cooper spoke to members of the Roanoke Valley Chamber of Commerce during a luncheon at Timeless Tea sponsored by the chamber’s Public Affairs Committee.

Cooper discussed law enforcement initiatives, some of which tied to business concerns and some of which simply touch everyday safety and crime prevention.

Noting the growing epidemic of identity theft, he told the Chamber committee North Carolina has taken a huge step in protecting citizens from falling prey to this crime.

Cooper suggested the audience visit ncdoj.gov and follow the links to set up a free credit security freeze to protect themselves from ID theft. The freeze prevents any new credit applications from being processed, which keeps identity thieves from getting credit in their victims’ names. Such a measure, which is being implemented in a handful of states, does prevent receiving instant credit for things like department store card promotions, but protects against unauthorized use of anyone’s identity. The freeze may be removed temporarily by the account holder and then re-activated to allow consumers to get more credit, but nothing may be done with the freeze in place. The measure met with much discussion and expressions of approval from the audience members.

Cooper discussed the economy and placed blame where he feels it belongs. “I strongly believe irresponsible lending led to this economic collapse,” Cooper said. He says his office is working to prevent foreclosures by expediting communication between consumers at risk for foreclosures and lenders to modify existing loans.

“When there is a foreclosure everybody loses,” Cooper asserted. “If we can get those loans modified to avoid foreclosure everybody wins.”

Cooper reported such measures apply to small businesses as well, who are at risk.

The attorney general said “scam artists” pose as counselors and take money upfront, a practice his office moved to prevent through the General Assembly. “North Carolina passed a law making it illegal to take money upfront for foreclosure counseling,” he told the group.

Cooper also would like to see a national method of protecting citizens from credit card companies. He’s heard from people whose credit card interest rate has gone up from 9 percent to 25 percent in one month even without missed payments. “We’re working with Congress to develop a national consumer protection program regarding credit card interest,” he said.

The attorney general then switched gears from financial concerns to crime issues. “In the last 10 years,” Cooper said, “crime in North Carolina is down 14 percent in spite of the population being up 20 percent.”

One reason for this, Cooper insists, is the advent of DNA as a crime-fighting tool. “We work hard to push for more DNA agents. Now we take DNA from every felon and put it in a database.

We had more cold hits (matches in DNA from simply searching the database rather than a specific targeted person) in 2008 than in the entire previous 10 years,” Cooper explained. “DNA is also helping to exonerate innocent people.”

Cooper would like to see more done with DNA, however. He advocates taking DNA samples from every person arrested in North Carolina for referencing against the database. He feels such a measure would speed up case closures.

Sticking with the crime prevention topic, Cooper talked about school safety. “We provide every school in the state with a critical response kit,” he said. “And train all our school resource officers in rapid deployment. We learned from Columbine that rapid deployment is critical.”

The Chamber committee also heard from Cooper on the problem of methamphetamine labs, an issue the attorney general feels is much more contained in North Carolina than in other states.

“We passed mandatory sentencing laws for meth makers,” Cooper explained, “and we moved cold medicine like Sudafed (a key ingredient in methamphetamine production) behind the counter at drug stores.”

Cooper insists these moves yielded measurable results. “In the last two years, you’ve had nine meth labs in Halifax County,” he said. “In Tennessee they’ve had hundreds.”

Domestic violence figured heavily in Cooper’s description of the Address Confidentiality Program. Victims of domestic violence — Cooper refers to them as “survivors” — may obtain a card after leaving their abusive situation which shows their address as the Attorney General’s Office whenever anyone checks public records for their location after they’ve moved. The A.G. forwards their mail to them.

Such a measure prevents stalking and Cooper claims out of hundreds of people who have used the program, only two have been found.

“We need to do more to attack the gang problem,” Cooper also discussed. “When you have gangs you have drugs, violence and prostitution.”

“We need tougher prison sentences,” the Attorney General insisted. He also advocates a program started by Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. and his brother Billy called “Badges for Baseball,” which pairs law enforcement with youths at risk for gang recruitment. There are 17 locations for the program, one of which is in Weldon.

Cooper informed the group his office also supports the “Street Safe Taskforce,” which enlists faith-based nonprofit groups to help released prisoners re-integrate into society to prevent recidivism. Such a program “makes streets safer,” Cooper said. “It’s the safe thing to do, it’s the smart thing to do, it’s the right thing to do.”

The attorney general is also working with Gov. Beverly Perdue regarding the controversial inmate release, initially scheduled for Oct. 29, in which 20 violent felons set to be freed due to a State Supreme Court ruling.

His office will be arguing in court that good behavior time has not been calculated correctly in these cases and the inmates shouldn’t be released. As of now, the releases have been blocked.

Cooper also strongly advocated parental involvement in monitoring their child’s Internet activity. “With all good things comes a dark side,” Cooper said. “We’re educating parents about the risks associated with the Internet.”

The Attorney General said parents should talk to their kids about the Internet just as they would about drugs or any other concern. “You have to talk to them,” Cooper told the group. “Have a dialog with them and establish trust so they will tell you when something makes them uncomfortable.”

Chamber President Allen Purser thanked Cooper for sharing his knowledge and Cooper noted he once represented the area in the General Assembly and its where, “I’ve always felt at home.”