Durham residents urge commissioners to reject $16 million sheriff training facility and expand HEART unarmed response

Dozens of residents urged the Durham County Board of Commissioners not to approve a proposed renovation and expansion of the Durham County Sheriff's Office training site, and to redirect funding toward the HEART co-responder program, housing and mental-health services.

Speakers at the meeting's public-comment period repeatedly called the planned bond-funded project an inappropriate use of county dollars while homelessness and unmet mental-health needs persist. Jennifer Carroll, representing the Durham Community Safety and Wellness Task Force, told the board the task force "unanimously selected the expansion of the HEART program into the county and into Durham Public Schools as the single most pressing public safety issue in our county." Several other speakers urged commissioners to prioritize HEART, restorative justice programs and school supports over construction of a new or expanded…