Durham ‘getting sprayed’ as gun violence surges, Mayor Leo Williams says

Mayor Leonardo Williams said gun violence is the biggest crisis Durham faces.

“Neighborhood are getting sprayed; they’re getting sprayed,” he said Thursday afternoon as the Durham City Council received a quarterly crime report from early 2024.

In the first three months of the year, violent crime was slightly below the three-year average and property crimes were trending significantly higher.

Still, police have collected roughly 1,500 shell casings at crime scenes this year, with each casing having contained a bullet, Police Chief Patrice Andrews told the council.

‘Shocking’ increase in homicides. chief says

The first-quarter crime report, leaders acknowledged, doesn’t capture a recent wave of gun violence in the city.

“The second-quarter report is probably going to be astonishing,” Andrews told reporters. “We have gone from like six, seven homicides, to now we’re at 18 within almost a month and a half. That is shocking.”

All told, a total of 87 people had been shot this year in Durham as of May 18, including non-fatal shootings.

That compares to 70 people shot by the same time in 2023 and 92 people in 2022, police statistics show.

Meanwhile, police are taking an average of 6 minutes and 37 seconds to respond to calls, 49 seconds behind the department’s goal for high priority calls. Police answered 49% of those calls in less than 5 minutes, which is also below the goal.

1 in 4 police-officer slots vacant

Deputy Police Chief Melissa Bishop said understaffing is a factor.

Police staffing levels have steadily fallen since 2020. The department is currently 74% staffed, with 397 sworn officer positions filled, including 29 recruits.

Durham’s city manager has proposed raising introductory pay 14% to $54,817 to help with recruitment and retention.

“I am very hopeful that this budget — if it’s adopted as the manager has presented it, which I’m a huge advocate for — will give us some relief,” Andrews said.

The increase in property crimes largely reflected thefts of, and from, motor vehicles. Bishop said people were sharing tips on how to steal and break into cars on TikTok.

“Seventy two percent of all stolen guns came from motor vehicles,” she added.

Read the full report online.