Group urges Durham to fill police vacancies with unarmed responders

DURHAM, N.C. (WNCN) — Recently, grassroots political organization, Durham For All, sent a letter to Durham City Council; in it was a demand for change.

They are calling on city leaders to transfer vacancies within the Durham Police Department to a new department of community safety and hire unarmed professionals to respond to some of the 911 calls.

According to the city, Durham police has 60 vacancies.

“So, we want to move those vacancies over to a department of community safety,” said Shanise Hamilton.

Hamilton is a community organizer with Durham For All.

She said safety is the key element to this plan. The organization believes the unarmed professionals would be better equipped to respond to some calls.

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