With gun killings climbing fast in Durham, a packed community room on Friday turned into a kind of emergency town hall, as city and county leaders sat face to face with residents for a City-County conversation on how to stop the violence.
The session, one of several planned as part of a broader community engagement push, pulled together residents, public safety staff and community advocates to trade ideas on prevention, from youth programs to data-driven street interventions. Officials said these conversations will shape a multi-month plan aimed squarely at reducing gun violence across the city.
As reported by CBS17, Durham Police Department officials told attendees that 13 people have been killed so far this year, a roughly 62% jump from the same point last year. Ryan Smith, director of Durham’s Community Safety Department, told the outlet, “we lose too many people to gun violence; one person is one too many,” and said he believes there are concrete steps the city can take in the next 12 months to save lives. Police and safety staff framed the series of conversations as a way to make both short- and long-term responses more focused and more clearly led by community priorities.
More Sessions Already On The Calendar
The City of Durham has multiple community conversations lined up this month as officials work to collect public input and prioritize which strategies to move on first. The city’s events calendar lists sessions on March 13, March 20 and March 21 as part of the City-County Community Conversation series, with both virtual and in-person options available.
According to the City of Durham, feedback from these meetings will feed into a draft violence reduction plan for city and county leaders to review. The process is designed to give residents multiple chances to weigh in before anything is finalized.
Experts Push Focused, Evidence-Based Approach
Before Friday’s resident-focused meeting, earlier expert sessions zeroed in on concentrating resources where shootings are most frequent and pairing enforcement with real support for people at highest risk.
The Triangle Tribune reported that Thomas Abt of the Violence Reduction Center launched the months-long process in December by urging Durham to combine “hard” and “soft” strategies, from targeted services to careful attention to fairness in how any crackdowns are carried out. Abt and other researchers told residents that data-driven, place-based interventions, paired with stabilization services for those most at risk, offer the strongest shot at cutting shootings over time.
Residents Call For Youth Programs And Safe Spaces
People who took the mic on Friday leaned heavily on one theme: the need to move faster and invest more directly in young people.
Many attendees pressed for more constructive youth programming, job pathways and trauma recovery services to blunt the long-term impact of gunfire on families and neighborhoods. “The city needs change and there is not enough constructive programming for youth,” Rita McDaniel told CBS17. Others described the daily toll of shootings and urged leaders to shorten their timelines and move from planning into visible action.
What Happens Next
City and county staff said they will compile feedback from these sessions and work with partners over the coming months to produce a draft plan for elected leaders to review. The City of Durham calendar and earlier expert sessions indicate the effort is expected to stretch over several months and include additional chances for residents to weigh in.
Officials and experts say the final plan will likely combine targeted, street-level interventions with broader prevention investments and data-driven evaluation meant to answer the basic question hanging over every meeting: is this actually saving lives.
