North Carolina is often represented by our CPOF Field Representatives Laura Matthews and Scott Bauer, in addition to the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction Honor Guard Team.
Laura Matthews retired as a Chief Probation Parole Officer from the North Carolina Department of Correction in 2013. Shortly after, she became the Field Representative for CPOF. Her husband, Rick, also retired from Probation and Parole and often is seen with Laura volunteering with her on behalf of CPOF. Together they have an adult daughter.
On August 4, 2011, PPO Jeffrey Settle was making home visits and his vehicle was hit by a cable truck. Laura was Officer Settle’s supervisor and designated as the agency contact.
CPOF and especially Kim Blakely guided me through the process and were instrumental in ensuring that Officer Settle’s family applied for and received state and federal line of duty death benefits. Laura attended PROJECT 2000 in 2012 when Officer Settle was honored and met Don Dease. She expressed her desire to pay it forward and be more involved with CPOF.
Together, they started a tough journey to have CPOF become a staple in North Carolina. At that time, the department’s administration agreed to work with Don on pursuing Payroll Deduction. They gave the duo 6 months to enroll 500 members, the minimum number needed to process payroll deduction. Don, his wife Judy, Rick and Laura got to work. Within 2 months, they delivered those 500 applications.
Every year since, CPOF has become a stronger force in the state of North Carolina. The North Carolina Department of Public Safety typically has between 50 and 60 prisons and 100 probation parole offices throughout the state. Within a couple of years, the membership grew larger than Laura could manage on her own. First, Ricky Anderson, a retired Deputy Director of Prisons came on board. Following his retirement in 2018, Scott Bauer, retired Critical Incident Administrator stepped up and became the second Field Representative in the state.
Prior to working for CPOF Scott Bauer spent 30 years with the Department of Public Safety in NC. He started as a Probation/Parole Officer and then became the Training Coordinator for In-Service training. The last 5 years prior to retirement are the ones he describes as his most gratifying. He became the first Critical Incident Administrator for their Department. In this role he was instrumental in creating the S.H.I.E.L.D. (Staff Helping In Emergency Life changing crisis or Difficult situations) program. The main focus was to help and assist officers who had suffered some tragic event or loss.
In addition to helping to create the S.H.I.E.L.D. program, Scott also helped develope the same program in South Carolina. Not only was he Probation Officer of the Year in 1998, but also received the Governors Award of Excellence in 2019.
Family and church are incredibly important to Scott. His wife (and mother of his two daughters, and grandmother to his 4 grandchildren), Betty, volunteers with Scott for CPOF.
CPOF has done so much for North Carolina and its employees for the last decade. Unfortunately, North Carolina has been hit with some very serious weather involving hurricanes and flooding. CPOF has assisted over 1300 families effected by two major storms and various catastrophic circumstances since 2013.
“In 2017, in two separate incidents, N.C. had 5 murdered officers. It was a tragic, grave time for the agency and the state. Their families, their coworkers, and the agency would not have recovered had it not been for CPOF. The financial assistance, the respect, and the love shown to those effected made it obvious to our state that CPOF truly ‘Takes Care of Their Own’.
The deaths of those officers as well as the officer I supervised have defined me. The Foundation’s financial contributions and emotional support drives me to not only help the N.C. correction staff but to spread the word and gain new members so we can continue our mission.” – Laura Matthews
“I have seen the tears and smiles this foundation has done. I was so excited several years ago to have given the chance to pay forward and retire a little early to come and work for the Foundation. I currently do an Assault Survivor seminar for CPOF at Project every year since 2015. It has been a privilege and honor to work at CPOF.” – Scott Bauer
The North Carolina Department of Adult Correction Honor Guard shared this when it comes to CPOF and PROJECT 2000: