Durham County DA says a focus on ‘root causes’ is needed to address rising gun violence in Durham

DURHAM, N.C. (WNCN) — So far this year there have been 737 shootings in the Bull City and 241 people have been shot.

As CBS 17 has previously reported, some of those incidents have been drive-by shootings where in some cases innocent bystanders have had been struck by gunfire, or their home or vehicle has been hit.

District Attorney Satana Deberry sat down with CBS 17 and spoke about the recent rise in shootings in Durham.

“I live here and I have children who live here, it is important to me that this community is safe,” Deberry said.

Since officially taking office in January 2019, Deberry has restructured the District Attorney’s Office to fight violent crime, but she said her office can only do so much.

“The court system is reactive, unfortunately,” Deberry said. “I’d like to see us focus more on the root causes of why we have these issues so that they don’t ever have to come to court.”

Deberry’s office has started to focus on not holding detainees who are in jail for low-level offenses through her pre-trial release policy.

This allows detainees to be released on a written promise to appear in court as long as they are not a danger to themselves or others.

“We don’t want people in jail, who don’t need to be in jail,” Deberry said. “They may lose their home or they may lose their job, especially in a time like COVID. They could also be exposed to an infectious disease in jail, so we want those people not to be detained pre-trial.”

CBS 17 has spoken with several folks in the community over the last few weeks, and they all have different ideas on how to fight gun violence in Durham.

For instance, one thing Durham Mayor Steve Schewel has said he is pushing for is strict gun laws.
“If we’re serious about getting a handle on it, we’re not going to stop it until we cut off the supply of guns to people who are committing crimes,” Schewel said.

Durham police officials and members of the Durham County FOP have said they need more officers as the number of shootings are on the rise.

But members of Durham Beyond Policing, the coalition who recommended Durham’s community safety and wellness task force, have said that they are pushing for alternative policing measures.

“Police are designed to respond to harm when it occurs, but they’re not designed to actually prevent anything,” said Danielle Purifoy, a member of Durham Beyond Policing.

However, one common goal that everyone agrees on is the need to attack root causes of what’s led to these recent shootings.

Some of those issues include poverty, access to health care, and affordable housing.

Schewel said that there are efforts underway at the city level to provide more housing to low-income families through the recently passed affordable housing bond.

“We have 80 units going up next to our transportation station downtown, we have 80 units going up behind J.J. Henderson, and at the old police headquarters, we have 80 units there as well,” Schewel said.

However, when it comes to access to health care and mental health services, he said assistance with addressing these issues will have to come from the state.

“Attacking the root causes of violence is the only way we’re eventually ever going to end violence,” Schewel said.