Durham wants to respond to more 911 calls without guns. Here’s how.
Durham has expanded a program that sends unarmed specialists instead of (or alongside) police to some emergency calls, in hopes of responding to 10% of the city’s 911 calls.
HEART teams can now respond to calls citywide for at least 12 hours every day, including holidays. They had previously been operating in about a third of the city during more limited hours.
HEART teams have responded to 9,150 mental health crises, trespassing calls, welfare checks and more since the program began in June 2022.
- The department has separate divisions that triage calls in the 911 center, respond to non-violent calls, and team up with police for higher-risk situations.
- Care navigators follow up within 48 hours to connect residents with resources and services.
- The hours vary by team, but all are available from at least 9:15 a.m. to 9 p.m.
HEART stands for Holistic Empathetic Assistance Response Teams. It’s the first program of its kind in North Carolina.
A divided City Council approved the Community Safety Department’s budget increase this summer:
- From $4.1 million spent last fiscal year to $6.4 million this year.
- That budget included 27 new hires. The city has so far added 19 new staffers.
- The full increase would allow them to triple their call volume to 13,600 calls per year. That’s 10% of all 911 calls.
“HEART has hired enough staff to expand, but we are not yet at full capacity,” department director Ryan Smith said in a news release. “If HEART staff are busy on other calls and unavailable to respond, the Durham Emergency Communications Center will send the next most appropriate responder to ensure a timely response to those emergency calls.”
The program has been praised by city leaders, often cited as a national model, but Mayor Elaine O’Neal recently questioned whether its expanded budget would have been better spent on raises for city employees.
O’Neal said she brought it to the city manager as a potential way to give workers bigger bonuses after a strike by sanitation workers last month.
“I left that conversation very frustrated because that was a ‘no. No, no, no we can’t.’” O’Neal said Oct. 5.
Others want to see it expanded to 24/7, including both City Council members running to keep their seats, Javiera Caballero and Monique Holsey-Hyman.
This story was originally published October 24, 2023 at 8:41 AM with the headline "Durham wants to respond to more 911 calls without guns. Here’s how.."
