; or hiring consultants to communicate with other cities and counties working to reallocate police budgets.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nShe said Durham is also moving forward with evaluating police departments to see where there may be opportunities to transfer responsibilities to other agencies, and auditing 911 call systems to begin the redistribution of call responses for non-violent crimes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe county, city and the school board will each appoint <\/span>five people to the task force<\/span>. Johnson said there are certain requirements for representing community members of diverse ages, races and expertise. For example, the task force must have <\/span>two people under 25\u00a0<\/span>and <\/span>at least three people who focus on racial justice<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nAccording to the bylaws, members are expected to work together to conduct a \u201ccomprehensive review of existing institutional and community-based public safety and wellness resources,\u201d hold three listening sessions in <\/span>90 <\/span>days and make recommendations about how Durham can become safer without using policing, incarceration or other punitive measures.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nJohnson said the $1 million will be used as <\/span>monthly stipends for task force members as well as for the implementation<\/span> of the group\u2019s recommendations. The task force is expected to have completed its evaluation and given recommendations within <\/span>two years of member appointment<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cWe’ll be relying on the task force to direct the work,\u201d <\/span>Johnson<\/span> said, adding that any significant next steps for public safety reform will be decided by the group.<\/span><\/p>\nThere is <\/span>no official timeline for appointing members <\/span>and beginning recommendations. However, Johnson said she is confident it will move forward quickly because of the increased scrutiny of police departments.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThat process is already beginning. On <\/span>June 25,<\/span> the school board unanimously voted to support the task force.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nNatalie Beyer,<\/span> a <\/span>community volunteer and advocate<\/span> who is a <\/span>school board member<\/span>, told 9th Street Journal that the board hopes to find nominations for the task force from high school principals and equity leaders within the public school system. She added that they will likely announce their choices in <\/span>August<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cI think we can do things better in Durham and I think that’s what this task force could help us imagine,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nDurham Beyond Policing<\/span>, which originally proposed the idea, is concerned about whether $<\/span>1 million<\/span> is enough to do meaningful work \u2014 especially since the city council voted to pass a <\/span>$70 million<\/span> police department budget this year.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cThe <\/span>$1 million<\/span> felt like an odd sort of consolation prize,\u201d said <\/span>Durham Beyond Policing<\/span> organizer <\/span>Danielle Purifoy<\/span>. \u201cIt just feels like an empty kind of gesture.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nJohnson<\/span> said the <\/span>$1 million<\/span> is just a start. As the task force starts providing recommendations and public safety services are transferred to other departments, she said she anticipates the financial investment to increase.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nPurifoy<\/span> also raised a concern that some city council members share: Ensuring the task force represents community members most affected by policing.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nMiddleton <\/span>vowed to make sure members are diverse. \u201cIt’s absolutely critical to the efficacy of this task force that the people on it are the people that are most impacted by police contact,\u201d <\/span>he <\/span>said.<\/span><\/p>\nOne way to achieve that goal, <\/span>Purifoy <\/span>said, is to ensure meeting times accommodate working people and offer fair compensation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cWe have not placed a strict timeline on this because we felt like there’s going to be a lot of back and forth that we’re going to need to do in order to make sure that the task force is in the best position possible to to do the work that it needs to do,\u201d <\/span>Purifoy<\/span> said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe task force is part of Durham Beyond Policing\u2019s broader plan to<\/span> get the city to <\/span>divest from the current police system <\/span>and redistribute funding to services that address mental health, homelessness and addiction.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nFinding alternatives \u201cthat are going to actually work in the city and be as well-funded and as well-supported as the police\u201d will take time, <\/span>Purifoy<\/span> said. \u201cIt’s a trade-off between making sure that this is an urgent thing, but also not pushing so fast that we end up with something that won’t work.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nDurham city council members say they\u2019re committed to continuing the debate about how communities should spend money instead of policing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nMiddleton<\/span> wrote in an <\/span>op-ed<\/span><\/a> recently that it would be irresponsible for the city to immediately cut police funding without first gradually transitioning services to other departments.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cMy belief is that if the initiatives have the expected impacts there will be an almost naturally occurring defunding effect as the mission of the police department is fine-tuned and right-sized,\u201d he wrote.<\/span><\/p>\nJohnson<\/span>, who is also pushing for gradual defunding, said this work has to \u201ccreate the space for these kinds of conversations in our community around how we stay safe, around what the most effective ways to stay safe are and about how we can do things differently.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n9th Street Journal reporter Cameron Oglesby can be reached at cameron.oglesby@duke.edu.\u00a0<\/i><\/i><\/p>\n
Top photo:\u00a0Artwork by Sonofsimba. Photo by Henry Haggart.<\/em><\/p>\n\n
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Just over a year ago, the grassroots coalition Durham Beyond Policing proposed that Durham launch a Community Safety and Wellness Task Force to help transition…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3313,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3312","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-government","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n
Durham task force will assess community safety, police funding - 9th Street Journal<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n