Durham anti-violence outreach worker arrested on drug charges
A woman working on one of Durham’s anti-violence initiatives was arrested on drug charges this week, records show.
Nicole Taybron, 40, was charged with possession of crack cocaine with the intent to manufacture, sell or deliver and possession of marijuana paraphernalia.
Taybron is an outreach worker for Bull City United, a county spokesperson confirmed, as first reported by CBS 17.
Durham police reported finding her with 7 grams of crack cocaine and a marijuana grinder on Tuesday, according to an arrest affidavit. Police did not release additional information Friday.
Taybron was arrested Tuesday and bonded out of jail the following day, court records show.
“Please note that this is a legal matter that Durham County is not involved in and therefore we have no information to offer,” the county spokesperson wrote in an email.
Treating gun violence as a public health matter
The county launched Bull City United in 2016. It treats gun violence as a public health matter, sending trusted community members called “violence interrupters” into certain neighborhoods to help resolve conflicts, identify people at high risk of violent behavior, and reshape social norms around gun violence.
The program had a $2 million budget last year, quadruple what it had been spending, an expansion prompted by shootings hitting a worrying record.
In August, the county voted to spend $6 million on the vacant former Boys & Girls Club building in Hayti to serve as headquarters for the group.
Most of the money for the program comes from the county, the agency reports, though the city has stepped up its contribution in recent years. Bull City United had 25 full-time employees this summer.
This story was originally published September 16, 2022 at 7:07 PM.
