Op-Ed: Chief C.J. Davis Deserves the Support of the Durham City Council
Over the past two years, two admirable and important goals concerning public safety have been in conflict in Durham. This year, that conflict should be resolved.
In 2019, Chief of Police, C. J. Davis, proposed hiring 18 new officers as part of a pilot project for a new model of policing for an area of the city that was plagued by gun violence. A majority of the City Council rejected that idea after a contentious debate. The Mayor then proposed hiring 9 new officers as a compromise, but that idea was also voted down. The Council also opposed getting gunfire locating technology that has been successfully deployed in Wilmington and Goldsboro, and they even raised questions about continuing to provide the police with tasers.
The majority of the Council favors limiting funding for the police department and transferring some functions performed by the police to other agencies. They believe that the best way to make communities safe is to invest in social programs and to reduce reliance on the criminal justice system. Their views are closely aligned with those of a broad-based group of dedicated progressive activists called the Durham Beyond Policing Coalition. The Coalition is directly responsible for the Council’s decision last fall to create the Community Safety and Wellness Task Force and to set aside a million dollars to enact its recommendations.
Last summer, hundreds of people marched through the streets of Durham protesting the killings of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd and the shooting of Jacob Blake. The Black Lives Matter movement challenged racism and criminal behavior by police across the nation and the world, but there were also other shootings, and other heartrending instances of injustice, closer to home.
There is no way of knowing exactly how much gunfire there was in the streets of Durham in 2020, but over 300 people were hit, and too many of them were children. In July, a 6th grader was shot and killed by a stray bullet, and on that very same day, children ages 3 and 8 were injured by gunfire. In August, a young man was shot to death with a military-style assault weapon, in broad daylight, just a month after his 18th birthday. Two weeks after that killing, a 15-year-old was gunned down. In September, a 10-year-old boy was shot in the leg, and just a few days later an 11-year-old girl was shot in the head. Fortunately, both of them survived, but the 15-year-old young man who was shot on Main Street in November did not. The stories are too many and too hard to tell. The blood of children and the tears of mothers flow together on the streets of Durham.
Every Saturday on East Main Street a group of valiant, strong, and determined mothers and family members demonstrate carrying posters of children who have been killed. They want the city to understand that their children’s lives mattered. They are not naive about race, or about the police. They just want the children to be safe. Their slogan is “Guns Down, Hearts Up: Stop Killing our Future.” This year, the City Council must listen to them as well.
Like the Coalition and every member of the Council, they support youth programs, social programs, and programs for economic uplift and equity that will reduce the need for police. But they also seek justice, and they deserve to have increased police protection as long as their families and communities are under assault. Council Member DeDreana Freeman has earnestly pleaded with her colleagues to “acknowledge the voices of people who don’t come to our meetings. I’ve heard mothers say I can only send my kids outside when there is a police officer outside. I want to be beholden to those voices. I don’t want over-policing, but there’s such a thing as overcorrection.”
Last year, Chief Davis told the Council, “There are children in some of our communities who have become immune to the sound of gunfire. As a mother and one who cares deeply for all children, this is unacceptable.” The Chief welcomes partnerships with community groups and encourages community-based efforts that have the potential to reduce violence. “We would love to see the police department be put out of business,” she said, “but we are very busy these days.” This year, the Chief surely deserves the watchful support of the City Council, and those valiant mothers deserve the support of all of us.
– Reginald F. Hildebrand, Durham