'We cannot arrest our way out of a crime rate,' new Durham police chief says

New Durham Police Chief Patrice Andrews said Tuesday that she's coming into the job with her eyes wide open and will try to be as open as she can be as she tries to deal with gun violence and other problems the department has struggled with in recent years.

Posted 5:43 p.m. Oct 12, 2021 — Updated 10:02 p.m. Oct 12, 2021

Sarah Krueger

, WRAL Durham reporter

DURHAM, N.C. — New Durham Police Chief Patrice Andrews said Tuesday that she's coming into the job with her eyes wide open and will try to be as open as she can be as she tries to deal with gun violence and other problems the department has struggled with in recent years.

Andrews, who will begin serving as police chief on Nov. 1, grew up in Durham and worked for the police department for nearly 20 years before leaving in 2016 to become Morrisville police chief. She called being chief in Durham her dream job.

"I never assume that I can change the world, but I know that I can make a difference in one small corner of the world that I do tremendously love, and that’s the city of Durham," she told WRAL News in a one-on-one interview.

Although the Morrisville Police Department is only a tenth the size of the Durham Police Department and Morrisville has far less violent crime, Andrews said she's ready for the challenge.

"Crime and criminality know no boundaries," she said.

Durham has recorded 34 fatal shootings this year, through Oct. 2, up 55 percent from the same period a year ago. The total number of shootings is down 17 percent from 2020, however.

"We cannot arrest our way out of a crime rate," Andrews said, noting she wants to meet with community groups and her officers to discuss what's worked and what hasn't to develop a strategy to combat violent crime.

She expressed support for Durham's new Community Safety Department, which sends unarmed social workers and mental health specialists to respond to some 911 calls, and the ShotSpotter technology, which some officials have repeatedly pushed for to respond more quickly to gunfire in Durham.

"We also will have to apply some very specialized enforcement tactics and techniques, identifying people within our community that are the ones that are perpetrating these crimes," she said. "Before we start going further in those initiatives, I do want to talk to the community. I want to bring the community members to the table."

Expanding the ranks of the police department and improving the morale of officers is a key component to fighting crime, Andrews said.

The department has faced staffing problems for months, which has slowed response times to emergency calls and led to burnout among overworked officers.

Thirteen percent of Durham's sworn officer positions are vacant, compared with an 11 percent vacancy rate in the Morrisville Police Department.

"One of my priorities is really showing the officers and really making sure that they know that they do matter, that the work that they do does matter," she said. "When the officers start to feel that the great work that they’ve done is not valued and they feel diminished, it does create a low morale. Low morale leads to retention [problems] and not being able to recruit."

Andrews said she wants to work closely with the Durham City Council on raising salaries in the police department to help attract and keep talented officers. Some council members have been critical of the department in recent years and have been more willing to put the city's money in other programs.

"I’m going to be very purposeful in how I establish relationships with the council," she said. "We all have the same vision: We want a safer, more secure Durham where everyone is welcome."

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