Durham Reporter

Durham might be turning the corner when it comes to reversing its crime trend, but that doesn’t give law enforcement the ability to celebrate, as another murder recently occurred in the city.

"It's always very hard to come before you to talk about or even try to celebrate a reduction in some crime rates when such a tragedy happened last night in our city,” Durham Police Chief Patrice Andrews said on Nov. 22, according to ABC 11 News. “We certainly will be wrapping our arms around that family and praying for our community.” 

Some types of violent crime were trending down for the last quarter, despite ongoing concerns over gun violence in Durham. Andrews presented the city's third-quarter crime stats were to the Durham City Council last week.

Compared to the same period last year, homicides and aggravated assaults are both down in Durham, with 16% fewer homicides (32) and 20% fewer aggravated assaults (890). But rapes and robberies increased in Durham with 97 rapes, marking a 7% increase from this time last year, and 465 robberies, representing a 28% spike. 

Overall, violent crime in Durham declined by 7%, with fewer shooting incidents, fewer injuries and one less shooting fatality.

The report was given one day after a Gary Street shooting that killed one man.

That homicide was Durham's second deadly shooting in a week, as a 16-year-old boy was shot and killed on Sima Avenue near Durham's McDougald Terrace housing complex just days before the Gary Street shooting.

The Durham Police Department, meanwhile, continues to struggle with staffing shortages that are making it hard to keep patrols at fully staffed levels.

"I see officers that are overworked,” Andrews said, according to ABC 11 News. “And when we start to ask them, ‘Why are you leaving?’ we see many who are getting out of the profession altogether." 

Currently, the Durham Police Department is now 79% staffed with sworn officers. The department has 433 officers on the job, down from its authorized level of 549.