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Durham residents urge commissioners to reject $16M sheriff training upgrade; sheriff says he's open to HEART co-responder talks
Summary
Hundreds of residents urged Durham County commissioners to oppose a planned limited-obligation bond for a sheriff training facility, saying the money should fund HEART expansion, housing and jail reforms. Sheriff Birkhead said he supports exploring a HEART co-responder model and stressed training will include de-escalation and crisis intervention.
Hundreds of residents packed the Durham County work session and virtual public-comment queue on Jan. 6 to oppose a proposed $16 million capital appropriation for a sheriff training facility, urging commissioners to instead expand the HEART unarmed response program and invest in housing, mental-health services and jail reforms.
"I'm here to ask y'all not to fund the $16,000,000 expansion of the sheriff's training facility," said Britney Price, who described herself as a public-health worker and asked the board to prioritize public services over capital spending. Dozens of other speakers told similar stories: they cited long pretrial jail stays, lack of affordable housing, school-transportation shortfalls and the Community Safety and Wellness Task Force''s recommendation that HEART expansion be the county''s top public-safety priority.
County staff and the sheriff's team presented details about the proposed renovation of the existing firing range and a 10,000-square-foot classroom complex. Manager Hager gave a cost breakdown during the consent-agenda review, saying, "The city's cost for this... is $28,600,000, with the county's cost of $20,400,000, and the cost allocated for the backup component for the sheriff's center is $4,500,000." Staff described environmental assessments, a lead-capture system for the range, berms and LEED-silver goals.
Commissioners pressed the sheriff and staff on oversight, transparency and whether the facility would be used to teach tactics tied to HB 10, state legislation that requires sheriff cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. Sheriff Birkhead told the board he does not intend the facility to serve immigration enforcement and emphasized training components that focus on crisis intervention. "I've had these conversations for the better part of 2.5 years about HEART and how I support HEART," he said, adding that scaling a HEART co-responder model will require work on staffing, training and cost estimates.
Several commissioners said they favor a balanced approach: maintain training standards for deputies while investing equally in community-based crisis response, data-sharing and jail services. Commissioner Jacobs pressed staff to provide measurable recruitment and retention data from County HR and to return with a clear framework and timeline for HEART expansion in the county.
The proposed capital amendment and contract for the training facility (listed in the agenda as a capital project amendment with a construction-manager-at-risk contract) remained on the consent agenda for the board's regular meeting; no final vote on the bond occurred at the work session.
