Law enforcement calls on NC lawmakers to address staffing challenges to help prevent violence, create safer communities

RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — Spending long hours to keep the community safe is something Durham County Sheriff Clarence Birkhead said has become routine for some staff.

“We’ve been working mandatory overtime in my jail and on our streets in Durham County for way too long,” said Birkhead. The Durham County Sheriff said they currently have about 400 offenders in their detention facility and have more than 80 detention officer vacancies.

“Their quality of life and their wellbeing certainly suffers,” Birkhead added.

Sheriff Birkhead joined other law enforcement leaders at the North Carolina Department of Justice Wednesday afternoon. He said law enforcement agencies continue to navigate around staffing shortages.

Apex Police Chief Jason Armstrong said they currently only have five officer vacancies, but he continues to hear how shortages have deterred officers to leave or go to other agencies.

“Another big challenge that we see with staffing shortages is the officers feeling safe,” he said. “We regularly hear officers are looking to leave certain departments because they may be working by themselves or they’re in a big rural area, and their backup may be 20, 30, 40 minutes away.”

Attorney General Josh Stein echoed these concerns.

“It really means that calls get responded to much slower when you do not have enough officers in the community and what you miss is the value of community policing,” he added.

Stein believes generous hiring bonuses and increasing hiring campaigns to recruit applicants from other states are just a couple ways to help. He’s also asking legislators to support HB 768 that would allow retired officers to come back to work without impacting their retirement pay.

During Wednesday’s press conference, Stein said law enforcement agencies in North Carolina face a series of challenges that impact public safety. He said the state ended their sexual assault kit backlog, but more works needs to be done.

“We must put our money where our mouth is and help them to do their important job in our communities,” Stein said.

The Attorney General called to legislators to support recruiting efforts, solving cold case and sexual assaults, and fighting the fentanyl crisis.

“Fentanyl is a scourge that is killing nine people in North Carolina each day,” Stein said.

Sheriff Birkhead said he’s seen the impact in his own community.

“Last year, our K-9 Unit hit on 3.7 grams of fentanyl. Since January, the same K-9 Unit has already hit on 341.98 grams of fentanyl. That’s a 9,000% increase,” he explained. “These drugs our in our community and we are watching our young people die from these drugs every single day.”

Stein is advocating for a Fentanyl Control Unit and Fentanyl Task Force to help address the issue and help district attorneys prosecute these complex cases. In addition, he said a Cold Case Unit would also help under-resourced and overworked law enforcement working to solve cold cases.

More details on the Attorney General’s focus on public safety can be found here.

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