‘Thanksgiving ... just another day to survive,’ Durham mayor says after fatal shootings
As Bull City residents prepared to celebrate Thanksgiving this week, Mayor Elaine O’Neal said those in Durham most vulnerable to gun violence must not be forgotten.
“I want folks to realize that Thanksgiving for a lot of folks is just another day to survive,” she said during a City Council meeting on Tuesday.
Police Chief Andrews reported the most recent crime statistics at the meeting. Police responded to 650 shooting incidents as of Nov. 5, according to the data. There were 214 people shot in those incidents, 35 of them fatally.
Most of those who have shot have been African-American men and boys. Two more young Black men, ages 16 and 25, died in shootings in the past week. O’Neal said she knows the dead teen’s mother and stepfather.
There is an “invisible” population, hidden from the daily lives of most Durham residents, said O’Neal, a former judge.
“These are actually people who live in our community and have circumstances that look very different from a lot of people — and we don’t interact a lot,” she said.
Andrews said young Black men have the odds stacked against them when it comes to violent crime.
“Between the ages of 16 and 24, if you are a young Black male — and we’re just talking about here in Durham — you are either going to be a victim or a suspect,” Andrews said. “Those are ages when you should be enjoying life the most.”
“I just want that to land for folks,” O’Neal responded. “That is not going to be solved by a police officer. It’s not going to be solved by seven members of council either. But it is a solvable problem.”
Council member Monique Holsey-Hyman, a social work professor, spoke about the need for mentorship and wrapping services around vulnerable youth.
“Our kids are dying left and right,” Holsey-Hyman said. “And so when I’m told there’s over 1,000 youth programs in Durham, that’s cute, but are those programs being evaluated? Are those programs really identifying and addressing the needs?”
Durham crime rates
Violent crime in Durham is down 7% since this time last year, Andrews said in her quarterly report.
It was progress both the mayor and police chief said was difficult to celebrate in light of the death of Tyler Young, a 25-year-old photographer murdered the previous night.
“We certainly will be wrapping our arms around that family and praying for our community,” Andrews said.
Homicide, aggravated assault and shootings are all down, while reports of rape and robbery have increased so far this year.
“We want to see that,” Andrews said of the increased rape reporting, adding that nearly a third of the reported incidents happened in prior years. “We don’t want those to go unreported.”
Most property crime is down, with a 2% decrease across the board, though motor vehicle theft ticked up 18%. Andrews said most commonly stolen are Hondas and Nissan Altimas.
“We can attribute that to people still leaving keys in cars,” Andrews said. “It’s been rather cold this week, so people are warming their cars up, and that really does increase the chances of the vehicle being stolen.”
Most crimes go unsolved.
Here’s how Durham’s clearance rates this year (percentage of cases closed, generally by arrest) compare to 2020 data for other cities its size:
- Homicide: 62.5% (FBI average is 49%)
- Aggravated assault: 37% (FBI average is 36.6%)
- Rape: 22.7% (FBI average is 23.9%)
- Robbery: 20% (FBI average is 24.8%)
- Burglary: 16.1% (FBI average is 11.9%)
- Larceny: 12.3% (FBI average is 11.2%)
- Motor vehicle theft: 10% (FBI average is 9.3%)
The agency is struggling with staffing, which Andrews said is contributing to response times averaging 40 seconds slower than the goal of 5 minutes and 48 seconds.
Staffing among sworn officers is 79%. The rest of the department is 87% staffed. Nearly half of this quarter’s applicants failed the written or physical tests.
“It’s almost death by a thousand cuts,” Andrews said, citing overwork, changing societal attitudes and a need to overhaul testing.
Recruits are paid a $42,593 annual salary during training. Base pay starts at $46,998 for patrol officers, with a $10,000 signing bonus and up to $3,000 to cover moving expenses.
This story was originally published November 23, 2022 at 5:42 PM with the headline "‘Thanksgiving ... just another day to survive,’ Durham mayor says after fatal shootings."
