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9 <br />Committee Discussion/Decision <br />Mr. Kirkland saidit appears there is no such thing as an “almost” charge or <br />situation: either a projectile has hit a house or it has not. Ms. Barksdale added that <br />all the enforcement tools currently in effect for Orange County are for the past <br />tense. Mr. Hunnellsaidit’s like bank robbery: you can’t be charged if you are <br />thinking about robbing the bank, only if you actually do so. <br />Mr. Tilley asked to be reminded about the statistics on 9-1-1 complaints about <br />sustained gunfire.Chief Sykes said that at the June meeting he had presented these <br />numbersfor cases in which the shooter had been identified and the situation was <br />determined to be safe: 2012 (60 calls), 2013 (47 calls), 2014 (44), 2015 (28), and <br />2016 to date (5). Where the shooter was identified and the situation was <br />determined to be unsafeshooting: 2012 (8), 2013 (6), 2014 (2), 2015 (1), and 2016 <br />to date (1). <br />Dr. Arvik recounted the situation he described at the Committee’s June meeting. <br />The first trooper did not have the enforcement tools to stop a clearly unsafe <br />shooter, he said. We should find a way to give the Sheriff’s Office the tools to stop <br />somebody who is shooting unsafely so that a real evaluation of the situation can be <br />made before an injury occurs. <br />Mr. Tilley saidif a local ordinance is not consistent with state law then the local <br />charge would not holdup in court. Chief Sykes explained that each county in <br />North Carolina has ordinances that are enforced daily by law enforcement. What <br />happens in court depends upon the District Attorney, who prosecutes. We will <br />enforce alocal ordinance just like we would a statestatute. He reminded the group <br />that there is no state law against hunting and drinking, but there is an Orange <br />County ordinance against it. <br />Mr. Tilley saidit would useless to recommend an ordinance that would be <br />enforced but not upheld in court. Chief Sykes saidany recommendation from the <br />Committee should be common sense, where we can enforce it. It has to be clear <br />cut, easy to interpret, and understandable to people who have to abide by it.The <br />simpler we write the ordinance, he said, the simpler it will be for the average <br />person to know what a violation is, the simpler it will be for the Sheriff’s Office to <br />enforce it, the easier it will be for the District Attorney to prosecute it, and <br />hopefully the judge will be able to make a clear determination about whether a <br />violation has occurred.