In response to a series of crimes in Durham that included five homicides in five days at the end of January, Mayor Bill Bell recently announced a more aggressive approach to fight crime and asked the Durham community to join him in demanding a "ceasefire."
Bell made the call earlier this month in his annual address to the city as he promised to make lowering Durham's crime rate one of his top priorities. The mayor hopes to do this by adding more police officers to the Gang Unit, creating a task force to investigate robberies and focusing on existing programs that help reduce crime.
"What you're going to see is a more aggressive approach by the police department, especially in dealing with people who commit crimes with guns," Bell said, noting that all five of the recent homicides were committed with firearms. "You're going to see more of a presence in neighborhoods with high levels of violence, and more of a presence at night and in the early morning when a lot of these crimes are being committed."
Although the rate of violent crime dropped by 8 percent last year, the issue seems to have taken on additional relevance in recent weeks with the five homicides and the release of "Welcome to Durham," a one-hour documentary that features confessions of admitted gang members, which was shown to local leaders at a special premiere Feb. 11.
In addition to a more aggressive police approach, Bell talked about several community-based programs that he believes have had an impact on crime. One such program is Project Safe Neighborhoods, which works with the faith-based community, the Office of District Attorney and the Durham Police Department to deal with gun violence. Bell also urged citizens to play a greater role in working with the police to fight crime.
"We're asking people to phone in tips and really be willing to communicate with the Police Department regarding instances of crimes," Bell said. "People should not be afraid to report something."
The need for average citizens to play a role in reducing crime is an idea embraced by John Schelp, president of the Old West Durham Neighborhood Association, which includes the area around Ninth Street.
"We need to build stronger bridges [in the community]," Schelp said. "We don't need police behind glass windows."
Schelp noted that members of his association work with police officers through the Partners Against Crime organization and take weekly walks through the neighborhood to report problems like broken windows. Schelp also said they have talked to the Duke University Police Department about increasing foot and bicycle patrols along Ninth and Broad streets when the DUPD begins patrolling areas off East Campus.
For Schelp, the source of crime in Durham can be traced to economic development patterns.
"In Durham, the problem is you have the highest level of poverty in the inner suburbs," Schelp said. "People move far out into the suburbs and so economic development is going farther and farther out.
To take one example, Southpoint Mall killed South Square Mall in Durham, as you lost local stores and local jobs, [which helped] create this inner ring of poverty."
Both Schelp and Bell agreed that Duke can help with Durham's fight against crime.
"Duke University is like any other community," Bell said. "I think it has a certain amount of civic responsibility. It has an opportunity to improve our neighborhood and provide opportunities to youth, which it currently does."
Bell stressed the need to provide positive alternatives to teenagers so they do not turn to crime.
"One of the things that came across in ["Welcome to Durham"] is, in spite of all the things these kids were involved in, pretty much all of them said if they had an alternative, like jobs or a role model, they might not be in a gang."
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