The leader of North Carolina's largest police union is calling for more stringent oversight of private law enforcement agencies in the state.
A Wake County grand jury on Monday indicted Joseph Michael Conover, a chief with the Nova Agency Company Police Department, for allegedly detaining four men and assaulting them, according to WRAL-TV.
Conover faces four counts each of felony obstruction of justice, willful failure to dispatch duties and simple assault, two counts of felony access of a government computer system and one count of second-degree kidnapping.
He was held at the Wake County jail under a $2 million bond.
The Nova Agency Company Police Department provides sworn officers to patrol residential communities and some businesses. About 1,000 "company officers" are employed by 60 entities in North Carolina -- including schools, hospitals and private companies.
Nova, which was suspended as of Monday night, and other company police forces are overseen by the state Attorney General's Office.
John Midgette, the executive director of the North Carolina Police Benevolent Association, told the news station that his group has long been concerned about company police.
"When you have people who have the right to take people into custody, to secure them and put them in jail and deprive them of their liberty, then you better have someone who knows the law and abides by the law in a system that is transparent and accountable," he said.
