Durham County Sheriff, Durham Police Chief address gun violence during community meeting

DURHAM, N.C. (WTVD) -- Durham Sheriff Clarence Birkhead and Durham Police Chief Patrice Andrews joined the community at Covenant Presbyterian Church following Sunday service to answer community questions about gun violence and solutions to the problems facing Durham.

The hour-long conversation covered a range of topics, but the big focuses centered around ShotSpotter, School Resource Officers (SROs) and youth violence, and mental health.

The conversation was moderated by Durham County Commissioner Elect Michelle Burton. On behalf of church and community members, she first asked about the controversial ShotSpotter program and why the City Council did not renew the program's contract after one year.

Sheriff Birkhead and Chief Andrews both agreed that ShotSpotter had become politicized over concerns of over-policing, surveillance, and accountability - but that it was a useful tool for law enforcement, providing more data for investigators and reducing response times.

"If nothing else, having ShotSpotter and receiving those alerts quicker saves lives and you all know the difference between life and death is seconds. ShotSpotter gave us more seconds," Sheriff Birkhead said.

Chief Andrews also said that while she felt concerns around ShotSpotter were "genuine", her department was committed to using the tool responsibly.

"I feel that the Durham Police Department did one heck of a job with ensuring that our policies were aboveboard and vetted, that our response protocols and how we respond and document far exceeded what other agencies have done across the country in implementing ShotSpotter," Chief Andrews said.

Chief Andrews did not outright pledge support for bringing the tool back as an employee of the City, but Sheriff Birkhead clearly stated that as an elected official, he thinks they need to bring ShotSpotter back to Durham.

"We are experiencing unprecedented gun violence in our city, in our county, and in our nation, we need to use every tool possible," said Sheriff Birkhead, a 40-year law enforcement veteran.

The community conversation also touched on youth violence and the use of SROs.

"There are some people who do not want SROs in the building because they feel strongly that it leads into the criminalization of black children, specifically," Burton mentioned when asking both officials about the use of SROs in Durham schools.

Sheriff Birkhead said that they found nearly 14,000 arrest-able offenses in Durham Schools last year, and only made arrests in 4% of the cases.

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"We're not about arresting our kids when a kid does something. There are two reasons, someone really made them angry or they're struggling with an issue. That's human," Sheriff Birkhead said.

Sheriff Birkhead went on to say that rape, robbery, murder, aggravated assault, and drug distribution in schools are offenses that his office will make arrests for in schools, but most of the things that fall short of that will try to be figured out without making an arrest.

"We try to bring family in to figure out what's going on before we arrest them or petition them," Sheriff Birkhead said.

Sheriff Birkhead also mentioned the recent school shooting in Georgia illustrates the importance of SROs, saying that when the SRO approached the 14-year-old accused shooter and told him to put his gun down, he did. He said he believes that happened because the student recognized the SRO and already had a relationship with him.

He also mentioned that during the pandemic, SROs played an important part in checking in on students' welfare.

The conversation also extended into how to prevent youth violence and get kids and teens on a better path if they might be at risk. One solution mentioned was making sure kids have access to after-school programs.

Sheriff Birkhead also said that while conversations like these are important, taking action is the best way to start creating solutions to these problems. He urges the community to show up to community events and speak up at local government meetings to weigh in on how community problems like violence should be addressed.