Durham crime report: Police chief says officers need more community cooperation
After numbers showed Durham police had only solved one homicide in the first quarter of 2022, Durham's police chief reported on the troubling rise in crime across the city at Thursday's city council meeting.
Posted — UpdatedThe new numbers show violent crime is up – and the people responsible are not getting caught right away.
She that while officers have only solved one of the 11 homicides from the first three months of the year, they could make arrests in two more homicides today – if only key witnesses would cooperate.
She says officers have identified suspects or "persons of interest" in 70% of the 11 homicide cases.
“I’m not discouraged, because I know the work that DPD investigators and all of our officers are capable of doing," she said. "I know that this is just one quarter – because really, at the end of the year what does it look like? I think we’ve shown in end-of-year stats that we’re able to clear cases."
She also pointed out that given the workload of their staff and employee shortages, they are doing a "fantastic job."
Andrews stressed that her officers are working hard, but it is hard work.
The crime report shows vacancies remain an issue, with sworn staffing at only 82%.
She also talked about trends they’re seeing in shootings – with many of them having multiple victims, with shooters that use higher caliber weapons.
As for solutions to the violent crime: Andrews says the recent police pay raise approved by City Council is already making a dent in helping to recruit and retain officers.
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