Durham unveils violence-prevention plan. ‘Babies need to stop dying,’ mayor says.

As Durham residents continue to express fear of gun violence, city and county officials have unveiled a collaborative roadmap to fight it.

On Thursday, directors of safety and justice groups presented a three-phase, “whole-of-government” approach to reducing gun violence.

The ultimate goal, based on what national experts say is possible, is to cut the number of homicides in half in under seven years.

The presentation comes amid community pressure to help, despite a decrease in overall shootings in Durham this year.

As of Oct 11, a total of 136 people had been shot in Durham this year, 25 of them fatally, the latest police data shows. That was down from 175 shootings with injuries by the same time last year, when 24 of those shot were killed.

Franklin Village resident Regina Mays told leaders at Thursday’s meeting how gun violence has affected her family. One of her children is in therapy afterf losing her friend to gun violence, and she has attended multiple funerals for young people.

“I really hope this program not just kicks off, but remains to sustain,” she said. “I think about how there are youth that are not entertaining guns, but if these changes don’t come, are [at] very high risk. … Think about the ones before they become part of the system.”

Durham has several groups already working to address violence. The new plan seeks to consolidate resources, break down “silos,” and ensure a fully funded, accountable structure.

A collaborative roadmap

Phase 1: Strategies

The initial phase will identify strategies and include a summit in Durham with the University of Maryland’s Violence Reduction Center to explore ones have that worked, said Ryan Smith, the director of Durham’s Community Safety Department.

Some strategies include

• Group Violence Reduction, like Oakland, California’s Operation Ceasefire, which helped reduce gun homicides 31%.
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy that targets harmful thinking that results from trauma.
• Place-Based Strategies, like Philadelphia’s efforts to address litter, streetlights and graffiti.
• Street Outreach Workers or Violence Interrupters, like teams that used to operate in Durham.

“They are all about focus. They’re often about balance, and they all show that when done well, they can lower gun violence and reduce violent crime in cities,” Smith said.

Phase 2: Planning

By spring, officials hope to see initial action plans with funding options that reflect lessons from past programs. Last year, Durham’s Bull City United, a violence interruption program, was dissolved after several employees were charged with drug and other crimes. Twenty employees were laid off as a result of the discontinuation.

“This is not easy work,” said Krystal Harris, the county’s director of Community Interventions. “A lot of strategies do employ people with lived experience. A lot of them do not have high education, so they’re not the highest paid. It’s very stressful and they become burned out. We have to make sure that we work with the employees in the community, making sure there are professional development opportunities.”

Phase 3: Collaboration and Sustainability

This phase will ensure that strategies are sustained over the years they will be in action in Durham County.

“As individual departments and agencies, we have strategies to plan goals, but we need to make sure they’re aligned,” Durham County Director of Justice Services Roshanna Humphrey said. “It’s not enough to just bring our leaders together to talk about this. … We have to make sure that we have continuous meetings with the individuals that are out there doing the work.”

‘Babies need to stop dying’

Community organizer Kani Adon Bermudzez-Bay told officials that gun violence is expensive. According to the National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform, the average cost per homicide is just over $624,000 and each non-fatal shooting is about $336,000 for expenses related to crime scene response, the criminal justice system, health care and lost tax revenue.

“It really shouldn’t be a question [of] can we afford it,” he said. “We actually lose a lot more money if we don’t. It doesn’t just cost lives, it drains resources that could be building schools, housing and opportunity.”

City Councilman Mark-Anthony Middleton said that, like the city’s Vision Zero Initiative to reduce traffic deaths, a gun violence prevention should be written into the city’s culture and funding.

“This work can no longer be champion-based that ebbs and flows into one particular elected official that’s their issue du jour, and when they’re gone, the emphasis goes,” he said.

Commissioner Wendy Jacobs said she would like to see the court system involved in the strategic plans.

“This is a system and we need systemic change,” she said. “This comes down to people, and we have to be honest with ourselves about what is not working and who is not collaborating because it doesn’t work.”

Mayor Leo Williams said the goal is to save lives.

“Right now, babies need to stop dying. Young people need to stop dying at the hand of a gun,” he said.

Phase 1 of the plans starts later this year.

This story was originally published October 17, 2025 at 5:45 AM with the headline "Durham unveils violence-prevention plan. ‘Babies need to stop dying,’ mayor says.."

Kristen Johnson

The News & Observer

919-829-4532

Kristen Johnson is a local government reporter covering Durham for The News & Observer. She previously covered Cary and western Wake County. Prior to coming home to the Triangle, she reported for The Fayetteville Observer and spent time covering politics and culture in Washington, D.C. She is an alumna of UNC at Charlotte and American University.