Durham County has a traffic crash problem. Will this $1.1 million effort help?

Durham County will ask for federal help reducing traffic crashes, serious injuries and fatalities.

Sheriff Clarence Birkhead told the county commissioners last week he plans to apply for a $1.1 million grant through the Governor’s Highway Safety Program for three traffic enforcement deputies, vehicles and related equipment.

But some commissioners, while supporting the grant, also wanted to make sure it wouldn’t increase county deputies when many in the community want to find public-safety alternatives to armed officers.

Durham County ranks 10th highest in the state for traffic fatalities, according to the Sheriff’s Office’s presentation.

It ranks 12th highest for alcohol traffic fatalities and eighth highest for speed-related fatalities, the presentation stated.

But despite Interstates 40 and 85 and highways going through the county, the State Highway Patrol only has one trooper in Durham County at night, Birkhead said, “and that’s just unimaginable to me.”

The four-year grant requires matching funds. To get a total of $659,396 in federal reimbursement, the county would have to contribute $467,764 in local money.

The Sheriff’s Office can pay for the first year and “potentially remaining years” with lapsed salaries from vacant positions, Birkhead told the commissioners Monday. The office currently has 81 vacancies: 25 on the law enforcement side and 56 in the jail, he said.

After the grant runs out, the Sheriff’s Office would reapply, and “if there are no other grant funding opportunities available at that time, DCSO will thoroughly review the data and determine the efficacy and sustainability of the program,” according to an explanation of the grant for Monday’s meeting.

For now, that seemed to satisfy Commissioner Wendy Jacobs, who said she wanted to make sure the county was not creating new positions. “I’m just concerned about the long-term costs to the county,” she said.

DA, MADD support grant

The sheriff has letters of support for the grant from Durham County District Attorney Satana Deberry and Ollie Jeffers, of the Durham-Caswell-Person MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) chapter.

Commissioners Chair Brenda Howerton, noting MADD’s support, also endorsed the grant application.

The numbers, she said, “are about the lives of human beings.”

There were 11,155 traffic accidents in Durham County in 2019, according to the sheriff’s statistics. They included 90 serious injuries and 36 deaths.

“This is clearly about saving lives on our highways,” Birkhead said. “The amount of traffic that comes through Durham County is enormous.”

Gun violence also involves cars, he added, noting how deputies seized weapons and high-capacity magazines during a recent traffic stop.

Commissioner Heidi Carter asked the sheriff if he had talked about the grant with the new Durham Community and Safety Wellness Task Force.

Vehicle deaths are a form of violence that needs to be discussed more, she said. But she noted the grant will require a county match of nearly a half million dollars.

“My only hesitancy is that I’m not interested in increasing the number of FTEs (full-time equivalents) for armed law enforcement positions at this time,” Carter said.

Birkhead said he and the task force have not talked, but that state law requires armed officers to respond to traffic accidents, unlike parking enforcement that can be assigned to civilian workers.

“This is an area where we don’t need to push these responsibilities onto the amateurs,” he said.

If the grant is approved, the Sheriff’s Office would have to return to the county to formally accept it. The funding for the new deputies would start Oct 1.

This story was originally published August 7, 2021 at 7:00 AM.