Dear Durham – A Message From Your Sheriff
First and foremost, my job as sheriff is to protect all Durham County residents, preserve public safety, proactively implement measures to reduce the occurrence of criminal activity and provide safety and security in the detention facility. To do this, I make sure my deputies and detention officers are well trained, and that we employ evidence-based best practices. Unfortunately, I now find myself embroiled in a public debate with two county commissioners who have not been completely honest with the public as it relates to the Office of the Sheriff and my willingness to collaborate.
This week, the Durham County Board of Commissioners approved the expansion and upgrading of the Durham County Sheriff’s Office Training Facility, located on Electra Road, in a split 3-2 vote. It is exciting to have this project finally move forward. However, I am concerned and frustrated that two Commissioners have misstated my record and have attempted to leverage project approval to coerce me into implementing projects and ideas that have not been formally vetted or discussed.
HEART Expansion
On June 27, 2022, the Durham City Safety Department launched HEART as a crisis response unit. HEART connects residents experiencing non-violent mental health crises or quality of life concerns with care providers. This alternate response to law enforcement is an approach I have advocated and worked for as a law enforcement professional and as Sheriff.
My record on this was described as “lip-service.” Contrary to this mischaracterization, my record demonstrates my belief in alternate response models. For more than six years, I helped lead the efforts to implement alternative responses to mental health crises. I serve on the Governor’s Task Force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice. TREC disseminated information and sample policies to all law enforcement agencies about reimagining emergency response, diversion, and restorative justice best practices. As a member of TREC, we developed and advocated for Senate Bill 300; North Carolina’s Criminal Justice Reform bill enacted by the General Assembly in 2021. Additionally, I serve on the Governor’s Crime Commission as a member of the criminal justice improvement committee. For more than 15 years, Durham County deputies have led the State in Crisis Intervention Training (CIT). Our deputies are well trained in CIT, as well as de-escalation and implicit bias.
I have regularly met with HEART director, Ryan Smith. Last fall, Director Smith and I met to discuss HEART's latest initiatives and projects, including the possibility of expansion county-wide. However, HEART is not a Sheriff’s Office division, nor is it a Durham County program. Expansion would take more than a signed memorandum of understanding. Nonetheless, I stand ready to review and evaluate any proposals from HEART for county-wide expansion, as a co-responder model.
Emergency Communications Consolidation (911 Center)
No one, including the Board of County Commissioners, has spoken to me about 911 center consolidation. I cannot state a position on a proposal for which there has been no discussion, no plans, and no information presented.
Grandstanding is not governance. We must do an in-depth look at resources, cost, legal rules and regulations, liability, call-response times, hardware, and software. We must evaluate whether it will work, how it will work, and how much it will cost, then decide if proceeding is a beneficial use of taxpayer money.
This pragmatic approach to problem-solving is tried and proven and should be the standard for which we seek to create new programs or improve service delivery to our beloved Durham County.
Sheriff’s Office Funding
I adamantly disagree with Commissioners Allam and Jacobs’ statement that our Sheriff’s Office is well funded. Yes, it is true that the Sheriff’s Office, with nearly 500 employees, receives the second highest portion of the county’s annual budget – approximately 50 million dollars. Once we deduct over one million dollars for funding the animal shelter, funds for employee salaries, benefits, and insurance costs, the Sheriff’s Office operational budget is slightly more than 6 million dollars to cover day-to-day operations.
During the recent meeting, it was stated that conditions inside the detention center were a concern. I have repeatedly alerted commissioners to my concerns about the state of the detention facility, and the current failure of critical life-safety systems we are experiencing.
The detention facility does not have:
- A functioning fire suppression system. For more than seven months, the facility has been on fire watch, which requires officers to walk the building looking for the presence of fire or smoke. These fire watch tours occur repeatedly throughout the day.
- Reliable air conditioning or heat. Throughout the summer, detention officers walked through the facility to ensure each housing area was cool and met state regulations.
- Cameras and doors thatreliably work. We addressconsistentfailures in both systems.
For the record, the basic operational needs of the Sheriff’s Office are not being met:
- The courthouse does not have reliable air conditioning or heat.
- This year, and for the past four years, the Sheriff’s Office’s fuel, maintenance, and repair budget has been underfunded. Funding runs out mid-year and the Sheriff’s Office works with the County to find money to pay for gas, oil changes, tire rotations, and vehicle repairs.
- Our uniform budget is inadequate to outfit new officers, replace uniforms, or outfit our detention officers with stab-proof protective vests.
Finally, it was stated that I am not accessible to the public. This could not be further from the truth. I and my staff meet regularly with residents, community groups, neighborhood associations, businesses, and churches across the county. The Board has statutory authority to request updates from the Sheriff in any of its public meetings. I am more than willing, as I have done in years past, to discuss public safety and the operations of the Sheriff’s Office in any open session. As an elected official, I am answerable to the public and welcome the opportunity to meet and present.
As our new commissioners stated during the recent meeting, “We are colleagues, we must collaborate and although our visions may differ, we must strive to reach consensus.” Ultimately, however, law enforcement and public safety rests upon my shoulders – not the commissioners. The needs of the community, the Sheriff’s Office's deputies, detention officers, civilian employees, and the detainees housed in the jail are my priority. They should not be used as political leverage.
With Honor, Duty & Service,
Clarence F. Birkhead, Sheriff
Durham County, NC |
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