Fayetteville leaders to move forward with new office to tackle violence, mental health

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (WTVD) -- Fayetteville officials say they're in the final stages of setting up a new office with a big mission. The Office of Community Safety (OCS) will be offering mental health support and tackling violence and homelessness.

Officials say they're in the process of staffing and gathering data for OCS. At Monday's city council meeting, officials say they will officially start implementing the program by transferring more than $2 million in city tax dollars to fund the project.

"This is a great day. Just a great day," Rick Iwanski, the grandfather of Jada Johnson, said. In July 2022, Johnson died after being shot by a Fayetteville police officer during what her family says was a mental health crisis.

The city says OCS will focus on four main pillars. One is providing professional, alternative mental health support as authorities are responding to mental health crisis calls. The office will also work on violence prevention, youth engagement, and reducing homelessness.

Fayetteville Freedom For All (FFFA) is an organization that has been advocating for the city to open the office, citing similar examples in other cities including Durham.

"We've heard from all different, you know, classes, races, generations of folks who have shared stories with us about how having that mental health response team could of helped them or their family members," said Lisette Rodriguez of the organization.

"So we're really excited about that piece as well as the violence interruption programs."

Angela Tatum, also a member of FFFA, says the public should get to participate in the office director's hiring process.

"We're hoping that they will engage in an open, you know, town hall type forum where the director or several candidates can be chosen. We can ask questions. They can ask questions."

Iwanski supports the new program but he says he will need a multi-tiered approach to gain the community's trust.

"They need to organize a good strategy for the future to get from a near term, a midterm and a far strategy because they can't just rely on just one."

Fayetteville Police Chief Kem Braden says it's unclear exactly how his department will work with the new office since the city is still hiring a director.

In a statement, he says in part:

"...(H)ow we work with them remains to be seen on the vision and direction of the department as it begins to take shape."