The national media can't seem to get enough of Durham's alleged gang problem, despite city officials' efforts to convince them otherwise.
In the past year, two high-profile documentaries have highlighted the gang culture in Durham as well as efforts to address the problem.
But Durham officials contend that the situation is exaggerated and the portrayals, incomplete.
Last Thursday, television icon Al Roker of NBC's "Today" show debuted a Court TV documentary about a nationwide rise in street gangs, using the Bull City as his primary focus.
The program-entitled "Menace on Main Street"-was quick to paint Durham in a negative light and suggested that the city's gang situation showed no signs of immediate improvement.
"I don't think it really spoke at all to Durham's methods at controlling gangs," Durham Police Chief Steve Chalmers said. "I feel that it wasn't a really balanced report."
Attention is being focused on a situation in Durham that is not very different from what is happening in other cities across the country, said Amy Blalock, public affairs specialist for the City of Durham.
"I would say that the problem we have here in Durham is a problem every community has... including our neighboring communities in the Triangle," she added.
A segment in the program that piqued city officials' attention was a comparison drawn between Durham and another North Carolina municipality: High Point.
The program examined methods that each city uses to combat gangs. In the sequence, Durham was shown as using aggressive tactics-such as frequent police sweeps and arrests of suspected gang members.
In contrast, the program portrayed High Point as taking a more successful approach-confronting gang members and offering them aid in seeking employment if they agree to quit the gang life and sending them to jail if they refuse.
Some Durham officials criticized the program's depiction, arguing that Durham's methods of reducing gang violence are making progress. They also said the city uses some of the same tactics as High Point.
"The method that we are actually using here is again a holistic approach-it's very comprehensive in nature, and we certainly understand we need a very, very strong oppression program," Chalmers said. "We have strong partnerships with local and federal agencies, and we're getting a lot of benefit with that."
The show's statistics have been another point of contention among officials. Although Roker estimated that there were nearly 3,000 gang members in Durham, some officials have argued that the number is about a sixth of that-525 documented cases.
It has only been about a year since another Durham documentary made headlines. Welcome to Durham revealed the darker side of the city, complete with gangs, guns and violence.
"I think the situation that makes us unique is that here in Durham we face our problems head on, and we talk about our problems out in the open," Blalock said. "And because of that atmosphere... you tend to get attention that way."
The gang problem has also garnered debate in the upcoming municipal elections, with incumbent Mayor Bill Bell and challenger Jackie Wagstaff expressing differing opinions on the issue.
Bell has said the city's tough police patrols are helping the problem, but Wagstaff-as part of her "hip-hop" agenda-wants to meet periodically with youth, including gang members, to get their perspectives on what is driving the problem.
In response to last week's documentary, the city has released and distributed a six-page handout, entitled "Durham's Community-Wide Efforts to Combat Gangs." The pamphlet highlights four levels of community response in which the city engages. "Durham may not have all the answers to preventing and eradicating gangs from its community," it reads. "But it is committed to continuing to seek solutions to protect its youth from gangs where their only future options are incarceration, violence, or death."
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