Durham County unanimously votes to hire private security to cover shortage of deputies, detention officers

That staffing crunch is causing the county to consider a unique step: Hiring private security guards to fill the gap.

On Monday evening county commissioners voted unanimously to approve a nearly $500,000 plan to hire a private firm in place of deputies and detention officers who currently run the security screenings at the courthouse and jail.

Durham County deputies, running the metal detectors and conveyer belts, are often the first people you see when walking into the courthouse. This vote could change that, allowing the sheriff's office to reallocate their resources while dealing with staffing shortages.

Brad Kirby, a retired sergeant, has concerns about using private security.

"Outside of my background and my history, just being a regular citizen, I would be concerned," he said.

He says the idea of a third party private security company running the checkpoints at the jail and courthouse could open up a chance for more incidents. Documents submitted to the county show while some security members at the jail would be armed, those at the courthouse would not be.

"As a former elected sheriff, I would not have entertained the idea," said former sheriff Mike Andrews, who worked for the sheriff's office nearly 40 years. He was defeated in 2018 by current Sheriff Clarence Birkhead, who declined to be interviewed for this story.

"Having private security, you're looking at two different sets of training and standards," said Andrews.

Andrews says he worries about liability.

"If something were to occur in the courthouse, who assumes making that call?" he asks. "What action was taken when someone overreacts to a situation? And who assumes the liability when something of that nature occurs?"

He also worries about how far this change could go.

"If it starts at this level, where does it go from here?" he said.

Both Andrews and Kirby say people try to walk into the courthouse with weapons, like swords or knives, almost daily. They're concerned that the unarmed guards may not provide enough security.

Documents show hiring the firm, called "Nighthawk," would provide 14 staff members and cost $412,000 dollars – to get through June. The money would come from the sheriff's budget, using the money that would have been used to pay the salaries of the vacant positions.

Those 14 new staff members would be broken down into 9 unarmed, 4 armed and 1 supervisor role.

The county already contracts this firm to do security at other buildings like libraries.