Durham police chief apologizes for lack of communication during June crime spree

The Durham police chief is vowing to do a better job of communicating following complaints by residents that they were notified soon enough about a crime spree last month.

Posted 10:01 p.m. Jul 27, 2017 — Updated 10:11 p.m. Jul 27, 2017

DURHAM, N.C. — The Durham police chief is vowing to do a better job of communicating following complaints by residents that they were not notified soon enough about a crime spree last month.

Last month, police arrested Rollin Owens after police said he kidnapped a family at gunpoint, made them withdraw money from an ATM and go shopping at a local Target.

The incident happened on a Monday, but police said Owens committed similar crimes the previous Saturday and Sunday.

Neighbors were upset they weren’t notified of the crime spree before the family was kidnapped.

On Thursday, Durham Police Chief C.J. Davis said there had been new watch commanders in place and admitted that they should have gotten the word out to the community as soon as detectives notices similarities between the crimes.

“We don’t always get it right, but we will continue to work to make sure that we get communication out in a timely fashion,” Davis said.

Davis said one of the things her department needs to improve on is using social media to communicate with residents.

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