North Carolina State Treasurer Dale Folwell has requested that the murder of Greensboro Police Sgt. Phillip Dale Nix be approved as a “line-of-duty” death.
Nix was killed on Dec. 30, 2023 while attempting to stop two men from stealing 10 cases of beer from the Sheetz on Sandy Ridge Road.
Nix was off duty when the incident occurred, even though attempting to stop a robbery is police work.
The North Carolina Industrial Commission (NCIC) will make the ruling on whether or not it was a line-of-duty death, and if the NCIC rules that Nix was murdered in the line-of-duty”, the family would receive an additional $200,000 in death benefits.
Folwell in the press release said, “It is imperative that we support our men and women in blue as they put their lives on the line 24 hours a day. Every officer I know is ‘on duty’ when he or she is out in public. Sgt. Nix was a selfless public servant who exemplified what it means to be trusted with protecting our citizens. That’s what he was doing when he was brutally murdered.”
Folwell also said, “From everything I’ve read, and everyone I’ve talked to, Sgt. Nix was both killed and murdered in the line of duty. Although it is up to the Industrial Commission, I strongly support providing death benefits totaling $200,000 in the case of Sergeant Nix. Once that determination is made, we will expedite the payment.”
Folwell said that he also sent a letter to North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein and the NC Department of Justice asking that the state crime lab give priority to any investigation into the case, in order to expedite the payment of death benefits to the family.
Folwell said, “It is essential that the Crime Lab get their work done as fast as possible. Hopefully, this will be done in a matter of days.”
Nice gesture, just a shame it’s politically motivated.
I totally agree! Law enforcement officers are on duty 27/7 whether or not they are working their “normal” working hours . Sgt. Nix actions are appreciated and his actions to stop the suspects should be recognized.
He was in fact off duty. The investigation is pending. Are off duty police allowed to attempt arrest or detention for low level misdemeanors? NC does not have citizen arrest laws. Are we sure the shooter knew he was a policeman? Are we sure shooter wasn’t threatened by a plain clothes man who was possibly armed? Too many questions for swift action. Lots of terrible decisions here by more than the shooter.
Interesting you want out your name on such a response. It’s also interesting that these people who shot this police man were stealing merchandise, were parked in a handicap parking spot and the shooter told the other 2 people in the car that they needed to get out of there as he had just shot a cop. No one has the right to shoot anyone unless your life is in danger and you are going to be killed. He shot someone who had to gun drawn. He this guy would have given up the beer he stole he would not be in jail as nd this officer would still be alive and protecting us from people like this.
Ok “Dave”
If I posted trash like this I would remain Anonymous as well. Officer Nix certainly was not a coward. How does that feel?
They just asked questions (most that I believe have been answered). Answer the questions versus illustrate why they we smart to post their question anonymously.
I think the family should receive the extra benefit regardless of the technicalities. He was attempting to protect and serve (doing his job while off duty). I find myself working when ‘not on the clock’ as I receive text, email and phone calls after standard business hours. As a professional, I am basically always available to work when NEEDED. And in this case, the officer was NEEDED. My 2 cents.
They weren’t just asking questions and were clearly blaming the officer for his own death. Get real, dude.
Police officers are in fact allowed to arrest anyone at any time while within their jurisdiction, whether off duty or on duty. In fact, that was part of the justification for the take home car program. They said officers on their way to or from work, though not on duty, would be able to take action more easily if needed. Officers also have jurisdiction for a full mile outside of the city limits, and in some cases, even further. An off-duty officer within their jurisdiction is not making a “citizen’s arrest”, they are simply making an arrest, just like if they were on-duty.
Police are also held to a different standard than the general public. If an off-duty officer goes out in public and makes a drunken fool of themselves, they could face discipline at work, even though they were not “on-duty”. Similarly, they are allowed, and in many cases, expected to take action if they witness a crime while off-duty as long as they are equipped to do so. So even though an officer is “off-duty”, it does not carry the connotation that you assume it means. As soon as an officer begins to take legal police action, their duty status can usually be seen as “on-duty”.
As to whether or not he identified himself properly, that will come out in court. That said, you would typically not flee the scene when you acted in self-defense and make no attempt to contact the authorities to tell them your side of it. However, the fact that the suspect was charged with first degree murder and that the DA quoted the suspects in open court stating that they needed to destroy the evidence of what they had done, pretty much clears that one up too.
Use the internet and your brain for more than your thinly veiled hate filled, and baseless assumptions.
You are expressing sentiments of people who coddle criminals by making excuses for their behavior. Low-level misdemeanor? Stealing, a low-level misdemeanor? By criminal code, maybe. But stealing is a society disrupter because of its nature. Shooter afraid of plain clothes man? When are you going to play the race card? That murderer came to steal and was prepared to murder if anyone got in his way, hence the gun. The terrible decision here was when those three criminals decided to break the law by stealing. You may not believe that Sgt. Nix was murdered in the line of duty because he was not actually “on the clock,” but do not make excuses for the murderer of Sgt. Nix, which is what it appears you are attempting to do.
Generally, North Carolina court decisions support the conclusion that a police officer is “always” on duty. In the 1992 case of State v. Gaines, which dealt with murder of an off-duty officer engaged in secondary employment, the North Carolina Supreme Court addressed the issue in connection with the nature of the murder offense. The Court stated that:
With regard to our laws dealing with a law enforcement officer’s duties as to arrest or search, there is no distinction between on-duty and off-duty status. … [The] legislative expressions appear to unerringly point to the proposition that a police officer retains his official law enforcement officer status even while “off duty” unless it is clear from the nature of his activities that he is acting solely on behalf of a private entity, or is engaged in some frolic or private business of his own.
The Court of Appeals echoed this rule in a different case in 2000, stating: “Even an off-duty deputy is considered to be acting under the color of state law when the nature of his actions involve official police action to enforce the law.”
Anonymous these 3 thugs were not committing a misdemeanor and you can bet this was not the first time they had done the same crime. The crime they were committing was a felony and off duty officers are never off duty no feel so sorry for officer Nix and his family. Shame on you, you low class piece of crap
NC GS CH 20: 15A-404…NC absolutely has citizen’s arrest law. And that doesn’t even pertain to this situation. In fact, read the entire Ch. 20:15 section. And get your facts right before posting. Ignorant and childish.
I hope this family receives the additional benefit.
SGT. NIX gave his life for ALL of US!!! And We are ALL better today because HE was here with us ALL. He will remain in our hearts forever.
There should be no jail time for the 3 thugs involved. A public hanging downtown on the street that’s painted with black lives matte. Make an example of them.
I my book Officer Nix was a hero. Pulling handguns out to fire over BEER was absolutely senseless. Now a family has no father,husband and several families have no CHILDREN at the dinner table. What a damn waste!
I found it suspicious when local authorities and even the Governor stressed that officer Nix was off duty. I figured it was either money or some other statistic they were trying to protect. They were certainly not looking out for the benefit and goodwill of officer Nix’s family. Kudos to Treasurer Folwell for demanding the morally correct thing to do. My experience is that this is normal behavior for Folwell not a stunt. Nothing can bring Nix back but his family should be taken care of.
Can anyone provide documentation that mandates “LINE OF DUTY WHILE ON THE CLOCK?” If not, then he was clearly performing the duty of a Law Enforcement Officer.
The state and police agencies can’t have it both ways. The directives speak of living your personal life on your own time a certain way. Officers also swear an oath in front of the Clerk of Court. Its semantics. Nix legally had the right to take action. The suspect could have left the beer, driven away, pushed him. But no..he knowingly shot a police officer. I don’t care about the politics. It’s semantics at this point. And F you to Anonymous.
With the exception of “anonymous” these are all wonderful comments. Also, Julie A gave a lot of accurate information that should be taken into account by the NCIC. This officer was in fact back on duty when he initiated an attempt to stop a crime in progress.