Durham said no more police last year. Will it say yes now to fight gang violence?
Durham Police Chief C.J. Davis, who lost a bid for more police officers last year, may ask for more officers again — this time to fight the city’s gangs and gun violence.
Davis updated the City Council this week on steps she’s taken since October when shootings within 36 hours killed two people and injured 10 others. She is also weighing whether to enhance the department’s gang unit with overtime shifts or six to 13 more officers.
Last spring the City Council voted 4-3 against hiring 18 more officers, with Mayor Pro Tempore Jillian Johnson, Charlie Reece, Vernetta Alston and Javiera Caballero rejecting Davis’ request. Mayor Steve Schewel offered a compromise of nine officers, also rejected 4-3.
The debate continued during last fall’s City Council election and reheated recently after Johnson coauthored a USA Today op-ed that criticized Durham police use-of-force policies.
‘Brazen acts of violence’
Durham is seeing “brazen acts of violence that place the broader general public at risk,” Davis wrote in a Jan. 30 memo to City Manager Tom Bonfield.
In one incident a 9-year-old boy was fatally shot in the head after someone in a passing car fire opened fire on his aunt’s SUV as she drove him and four other children to get snow cones. Twice, gunfire erupted downtown after tensions spilled from the courthouse.
In all, 189 people were shot, including 32 who were killed, in 652 reported shooting incidents last year in Durham.
In 12% of the reported 652 shooting incidents a gang member was either a victim or a suspect, Davis said, and shell casings or other evidence indicate that “a significant number” of the cases were gang related.
A shift in six positions
The Police Department’s gang unit has 13 funded positions: one sergeant, two corporals and 10 investigators. It often operates at half capacity because of approved leave, training, vacation, illness and other reasons.
In December, Davis moved six patrol positions to the gang unit.
She is using overtime to pay officers to volunteer for four- to six-hour supplemental shifts, which are typically overtime, to help cover general patrol shifts in those officers absence. In general, officers work 12-hour shifts.
The change has allowed the gang unit to respond immediately to incidents, such as a Jan. 22 shooting on Commerce Street. The gang unit made six arrests, recovered a stolen vehicle and a gun, along with two other firearms, Davis said.
But it also puts a strain on the department’s total 244 patrol officer positions, already facing openings, vacation, family and other leave.
Research shows that working overtime also increases risk of ethical violations, including use of force, Davis said.
99 children shot
Ideally, Davis said, the city would hire 13 more officers for a second gang unit, which would cost about $908,765 a year and provide round-the-clock staffing
Another option includes funding six new patrol officers for the gang unit, which would cost about $419,430.
Funding supplemental shifts would cost about $361,187 annually.
At stake, Davis said, are the children who live in these communities, “some who have learned to retreat to bathtubs, closets and under beds in response to random and targeted gun fire.”
And some who can’t escape the bullets.
In the past four years, 99 children have been shot, including 23 in 2019.
Budget amendment?
The purpose of the chief’s presentation Thursday, Bonfield said, was to get feedback before a budget amendment to cover the current cost of overtime and to prepare for later budget requests for the fiscal year that begins July 1.
Schewel said he would prefer hiring six new officers now rather than funding the overtime shifts.
“I believe that targeting the most violent members of our community, a small number but those who are creating a lot of violence, is a really important strategy,” he said.
Funding overtime is a bad policing decision because of the stresses it puts on officers, as well as a bad fiscal decision, Schewel said.
Davis agreed funding new full-time officers would be a better deal for taxpayers than continuing to pay overtime for supplemental shifts.
‘I get it’
Supplemental staffing can be erratic, Schewel said.
Over the summer the Southside area had an uptick in shootings. Davis made funding available for additional shifts, but few officers signed up for them.
“When there is a particularly violent area at a certain time, and officers have to volunteer for that and don’t want to, I get it,” Schewel said. “And I also get why it is important to be able to assign people there.”
City Council members DeDreana Freeman, Mark-Anthony Middleton and Charlie Reece missed Thursday’s meeting to attend training or a conference.
Johnson and Caballero didn’t comment during the work session. Alston said she would be interested in taking up the option before the budget discussions.
In a text, Johnson said she would like to see the data on gang-related arrests over the last few years.
“If it’s a persistent and growing problem, adding to permanent staff in the gang unit makes more sense,” she wrote. “If it’s a temporary uptick, supplemental staffing makes more sense.”
Reece and Caballero didn’t respond by deadline to phone messages left Friday morning. Freeman said she hadn’t yet caught up at the work session.
Middleton said he supports hiring the six new officers.
The request is a different from the one Davis made last year, Middleton said. “I think we have a stronger notion,” of why the chief wants these positions, he said.
Community safety task force
In a related matter, the City Council plans to consider bylaws for a community safety task force at its Feb. 17 meeting.
During last year’s budget debate, a community coalition known as Durham Beyond Policing proposed creating a community-led safety and wellness task force instead of hiring more officers.
The current proposal calls for the task force to review existing violence prevention and intervention strategies, hold three community listening sessions and make recommendations about programs.
The city and the county would appoint five members each. The Durham Public Schools Board of Education would appoint three members.
Durham Beyond Policing members said Thursday they want the word wellness in the title, want more community activists on the task force, and want the members to be paid.
Johnson said she will consider those concerns as she and Caballero draft the group’s bylaws. She said she plans for members to get $50 stipends for each meeting.
More op-ed reaction
Also Thursday, community leaders continued to stand up for Davis and criticize Johnson for her USA Today opinion piece.
The Jan. 16 op-ed, co-authored by Johnson, said Durham was “one of the poorest performing cities in the country” regarding police use of force policies, according to an evaluation by Local Progress, a national network of progressive elected leaders.
Bonfield sent a memorandum in response describing the piece as “defaming” and “inaccurate.”
Geoff Durham, president and CEO of the Greater Durham Chamber of Commerce, said Johnson’s comments “damaged Durham’s reputation and hurt our ability to be competitive in the recruitment and retention of businesses and talent as well as jeopardize our expansions of our local existing industries.”
Nicole Thompson, president and CEO of Downtown Durham Inc. said after three homicides downtown in 2019, her organization took a closer look at crime in the district, which rose 15% in 2019.
“What the numbers show is concerning with the potential to become alarming if not addressed effectively,” she said.
A national portrayal of Durham as struggling with crime “and a reluctance to seek balanced solutions,“ damages the city’s ability to attract the development and companies that bring living wages, she said.
“We at DDI have watched the culture of the police force under the current chief. We have seen significant efforts to partner with the community and to work with residents and business owners to reduce crime,” Thompson said. “We ask that we not respond to systemic bigotry and stereotyping by engaging in the same behavior in the reverse.”
Johnson didn’t respond to the comments.
This story was originally published February 7, 2020 at 6:07 PM with the headline "Durham said no more police last year. Will it say yes now to fight gang violence?."
