Fighting crime will be high on the agenda of Durham's next mayor, regardless of the outcome of the Nov. 6 election. Both Nick Tennyson and Bill Bell have touted crime as a key issue, although they differ on the specifics of how to effectively fight it.
The candidates emphasized prevention as a top priority, and also addressed Durham's clearance rate--the number of criminal investigations successfully concluded by the police.
Both mayor hopefuls pointed to the drug climate and a lack of opportunity as the driving forces behind crime in Durham.
"What you find is kids become disillusioned, and the only way they see out is through some easy illegal activity," Bell said.
Tennyson also faulted the judicial system for contributing to crime.
"[The system] has not worked too effectively to deliver guidance," he said. "People are involved in this revolving door, and we're not getting the benefit of corrected behavior."
But the candidates offered countering views as to the methods of fighting crime.
Bell said he would support a heightened police presence, specifically through increased cooperation between the city and county governments. He cited one specific case in which a sheriff monitored the Few Gardens community after a murder had occurred there, stressing the heightened sense of security the surveillance provided.
Tennyson said city and county cooperation is beneficial but that the potential for cooperation is limited since the two organizations serve different purposes in different geographical areas.
He said information is a key tool in combating crime.
"The idea of identifying areas of higher crime and allocating more police to those areas is exactly the philosophy I brought to the job."
During his tenure as mayor, the police department has filled 60 vacancies, the City Council began receiving crime reports on time, and crime over the last three years is down 20 percent, he said.
Bell faulted Tennyson's methods of attaining reduced crime figures, claiming that they resulted from the mayor's land annexation policies.
But Tennyson said he has always focused on the absolute number of crimes, rather than the rate. He added that there have been no annexations substantially affecting population during his tenure.
Both candidates cited the need to provide opportunities for at-risk youth as the most important preventative measure.
"The biggest crime prevention effort we've got right now is to have every child reading at grade level by third grade," Tennyson said. "Young people with a sense of an economically viable future are much less likely to be involved in crime."
Bell agreed, but said he felt the city is not doing enough to provide activities for youth outside of school. He said he would conduct a re-prioritization of city funds and be more aggressive in going after federal funds for extracurricular programs.
He expressed dissatisfaction with a one-cent tax increase put in place two years ago for the upcoming construction of a parking deck in downtown. "We've got to prioritize what we think is important in this community," he said.
In addition to addressing prevention, the candidates spoke about solving criminal investigations. Bell expressed dissatisfaction with the city's low clearance rate, which he said is probably one of the lowest in the state.
"It does no good to know that the crime is there if you can't find the people that have been charged with doing the crime," he said.
Tennyson said the clearance rate is a key factor, but that it has improved and does not require as much attention in the face of lower crime. He also cited the recent investment in the crime lab and said that officers new to the force will improve over time, further raising the clearance rate.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.