Duke to partner with city of Durham to study the needs of gun violence survivors

Duke University will partner with the city of Durham to study gunshot survivors and their families, hoping to pin down an answer to a complex question: “What needs to be done to make things as right as possible?”

After a summer hashing out who pays how much and nature of the research, the City Council got behind a yearlong pilot program Thursday.

Brenda James, a 72-year-old Hayti resident who lost her son to gun violence over a decade ago, said policy-makers must listen to those directly affected.

“We need to be heard. Survivors need to be heard,” James said. “As we are being heard, we heal.”

Council member Monique Holsey-Hyman helped ensure social workers are part of the program, which is called “Prescriptions for Repair.”

“My issue before was retraumatizing people and not giving them the services they need,” she said.

Duke said its emergency room has seen 52% more gunshot victims in the past two years, mostly Black men between the ages of 16 and 29.

Durham Police Chief Patrice Andrews was in the City Council chambers Thursday to discuss quarterly crime statistics.

“Everywhere it’s firearms, firearms, firearms,” she said while discussing the violent crime numbers, which were slightly down from the same period last year.

While shooting incidents were down 3% for the first half of 2022 compared to the first half of 2021, the number of people shot went up.

“We had several incidents where we’ve had multiple victims, and we’re starting to see that more,” Andrews said.

Durham had its first fatal shooting in about a month on Wednesday. As of Aug. 6, a total of 140 people had been shot in the city this year, 23 of them fatally, police report.

For the yearlong pilot, the university will administer the program, collaborating with the city’s Department of Community Safety and the new Duke Health Hospital-based Violence Intervention Program.

“The intent is to build a long-standing program that supports the needs of gun violence survivors in our community,” said Henry Rice, head of pediatric surgery at Duke University. “We’re going to learn where the best place to house this is, and we’re going to learn what our gaps in our existing structures are.”

Paying coordinators and participants for the yearlong pilot is expected to cost $147,000. Duke will cover 51% of the cost and the city will contribute $72,000.

Mayor Elaine O’Neal said it was an innovative partnership.

“It allows for our communities to get some services that have been needed for a long time,” O’Neal said.

The program — which must be formally approved at the City Council’s Sept. 6 meeting — would start in October.