From the Desk of the County Manager, August 7, 2026
Greetings, Durham!
The U.S. statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) related to gun‑related injuries are sobering. In 2024, the CDC notes that 44,447 people died from gun‑related injuries, including gun homicides and gun suicides. Of the 20,162 U.S. homicides the same year, 15,364, or 76%, involved a firearm. In Durham, we recognize it is an urgent priority to address the problem and systematic challenges of gun violence. Durham County, in collaboration with the City of Durham and our most important voices, our community stakeholders, has made decisive steps to confront this crisis directly.
Gun violence is a public health emergency, and changing the statistics has remained a priority for City and County leadership. Since December 2025, we began working on our commitment to immediate, thoughtful action. We established a Joint Violence Reduction Working Group made up of faith leaders, public safety professionals, healthcare experts, community advocates, and residents directly impacted by violence. We listened to you, specifically your concerns, your lived experiences, and your hopes, during more than a dozen listening sessions across Durham. You reminded us that while Durham has many resources, they must be better coordinated to reach those at highest risk.
At the same time, we examined the data with care and transparency. A comprehensive problem analysis revealed critical findings:
Key Findings
- A small number of individuals, groups, and locations drive violence.
- Victims and suspects were overwhelmingly male (87%) and Black (83%), with an average age of 30.
- Only 14% of homicides involved juveniles; most involved adults ages 18–34.
- 90% of homicides involved firearms.
- 66% were dispute‑related.
- More than half involved a gang member, though gang‑affiliated individuals represent only 0.2% of Durham’s population.
These findings helped ensure that our strategies are focused, balanced, and fair and reflect both community voice and evidence‑based practice.
Following June’s three‑day Summit on Saving Lives that was guided by national experts and grounded in what we heard from you, the Working Group reached consensus on a set of five strong recommendations.
Violence Reduction Recommendations
- Focused Deterrence: Engage the highest‑risk individuals and groups with a balance of services, support, and accountability.
- Strengthened Street Outreach: Re‑invest in community‑based outreach with strong oversight and management.
- Place‑Based Partnerships: Improve physical and social conditions in neighborhoods where violence concentrates.
- Trauma‑Informed Cognitive Behavioral Approaches: Train residents, service providers, outreach workers, and law enforcement to encourage healing and behavior change.
- Youth Summit on Saving Lives: Convene a separate summit to address the distinct needs of children and adolescents.
The Working Group also recommended establishing dedicated leadership positions, creating a multidisciplinary advisory board, providing training and technical assistance, aligning resources, and making ongoing data analysis a permanent part of Durham’s violence‑reduction strategy.
As implementation starts, I encourage every resident to read the news release and full document with recommendations and highlights from the Summit on Saving Lives on the County’s website here and the full recommendations on the City’s website here.
Understanding the work ahead is essential to our shared success.
Krystal Harris, Durham County’s Director of Community Intervention & Support Services, was deeply involved throughout the planning, listening, and recommendation process. She said, “Strengthening street outreach means putting trained, trusted messengers into the neighborhoods where violence is concentrated, before conflicts escalate, not just after. This work only succeeds when outreach teams, service providers, and community partners are truly coordinated and moving in the same direction. These recommendations give us a framework with the structure and accountability needed to make that coordination consistent and effective. We look forward to seeing that structure take shape in the months ahead,” she said. On June’s episode of “In Touch with Durham County,” Harris discussed the work underway in the County and her role on the Governor’s Gang Presentation & Intervention Taskforce.
A Shared Path Forward
I want to extend my gratitude to every Working Group member, every resident who attended a listening session, and every partner who contributed expertise and lived experience. Your commitment shaped these recommendations and reinforced our collective resolve.
These strategies will only succeed if we work together: neighborhood by neighborhood, family by family, partner by partner. We all have a role in building a safer Durham.
We have the roadmap. We have the data. We have the community will.
Now, together, we must act.
Thank you for your partnership, your resilience, and your unwavering belief in a safer future for all of Durham.
Until next week,
Claudia Hager
Durham County Manager