On Monday, 01/13, the Durham Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) met to vote on a proposal to allocate an additional $16 million for an expansion of the sheriff's facility in Durham, NC. Despite community pushback and disapproval, the commissioners voted 3-2 in favor of the budget.
Meg Hopkins, ACLU-NC Community Engagement Organizer, spoke at the meeting, along with 35 other community members, to encourage Durham BOCC to instead invest in expanding the Holistic Empathetic Assistance Response Team (HEART) program and other non-carceral investments focused on community care and supporting Durham residents.
Meg's comments on behalf of the ACLU included these key points that further amplified the importance of voting against this budget expansion:
- Investing in community, not carceral systems: The ACLU supports evidence-based investments in public safety that address the root causes of systemic inequities and uplift community members – things like affordable housing, mental health support, and better pay for educators. The longtime over-reliance on policing is a failed approach to community safety that has only contributed to the crisis of mass incarceration and has caused more harm to communities than good. A safe community is one in which its members have their needs met, not one with more police. If we want to actually protect Durham residents, we have to think about prevention, not punishment.
- Expanding HEART: According to a 2022 poll from the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), 84% of people agree that a person having a mental health, suicide, or drug/alcohol crisis should be treated first by a health care provider or crisis counselor, not by law enforcement. There is overwhelming support for trauma-informed care specialists to be the primary first responders for people experiencing crisis, not police. The HEART program in Durham is a proven alternative to armed police presence. The program has responded to countless calls from community members and has been able to respond quickly, diffuse the situation, and offer holistic support without weapons or violence. Instead of investing $16 million of taxpayer funds in upgrading a firing range, we could expand the HEART program county-wide, have responders in schools, have responders available 24/7 instead of just 8:00am to 11:00pm, and offer our people the support they need.
- This system fuels systemic racism: Every year the United States spends more than $180 billion to incarcerate more than 1.9 million people. Our country’s reliance on police and incarceration fuels systemic racism. Rampant over-policing and over-arresting in Black and Brown communities force individuals to live in fear — fear of becoming trapped in a virtually inescapable system, being separated from their families, or even losing their lives. And in an especially tumultuous time when the incoming presidential administration has been vocal about its desire to use local law enforcement as an instrument to harm and terrorize immigrant communities, we urge our leaders to commit to keeping our residents safe – not investing further in the very institution that is often used to inflict harm.
At the end of her address to the BOCC, Meg urged the Board to vote NO on the proposal and, instead, listen to calls from the community. Leading up to the BOCC meeting, the ACLU of NC signed and promoted the petition that was created by Durham Beyond Policing and other community organizations within the coalition that was fighting against this proposal.
The ACLU of NC supports more investment in mental healthcare, schools, affordable and accesible housing for everyone, and clean and safe environments where community mebers can play, gather, and grow together.
While the 3-2 vote in favor of the proposal was not the outcome we were looking for, we will continue to fight against the carceral state in our communities.
