Durham police chief to join on ride-alongs to ease burden on short-staffed officers

After extensive meetings with patrol officers within her department, Chief Patrice Andrews decided more help was needed. That’s how the initiative came about.

Patrol officers, supervisors, and Chief Andrews will be selecting shifts.

"One of the things they said to me is, 'Listen, we just need some relief. We need some help. That would help us retain some of those officers who were on that cusp of leaving the department,'" said Andrews, a former Durham officer who rejoined the department last month after five years as police chief in Morrisville.

The program will runs from January through the end of March and during that times DPD will be gathering data on what works - while also providing a little bit of relief for patrolling officers.

Chief Andrews said this will help officers better respond to priority calls and it may also help with some of the recent violence.

Response times by Durham police to emergency calls getting worse

Chief Andrews says she and the entire department are passionate about their job and she wants the community to know DPD is working create a safe community for everyone.

Earlier this month, Andrews presented Durham's quarterly crime report to the city council, showing that violent crime in the city is down 11 percent from a year ago. There was a 58 percent jump in homicides and an 18 percent increase in the number of reported rapes from 2020. But robberies were down 15 percent, and aggravated assaults dropped by 13 percent from last year.

Thirteen percent of the department's positions are vacant, up from seven percent a year ago, Andrews said. Through the first 11 months of the year, 24 officers have retired, and another 36 have resigned, with most leaving for jobs with other law enforcement agencies.