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As shooting deaths spike in Durham, DA says her office focused on prosecuting violent crimes

More than 200 people have been shot in Durham this year, and at least 34 of them have died. Durham County District Attorney Satana Deberry says it's her top priority to get those numbers down.

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By
Sarah Krueger
, WRAL Durham reporter
DURHAM, N.C. — More than 200 people have been shot in Durham this year, and at least 34 of them have died. Durham County District Attorney Satana Deberry says it's her top priority to get those numbers down.

"There’s been a nationwide rise in gun violence, so ... our office [is] laser-focused on the prosecution of violent crime and gun violence," Deberry said Thursday in an interview with WRAL News. "I have reorganized this office so that most of our prosecutors are prosecuting the most violent things, not just gun violence, but domestic violence, sexual assault – those things in which a human victim is most likely to be terribly injured or killed."

Like Mayor Steve Schewel and former Police Chief C.J. Davis have previously, Deberry blames "a small number of people" for the majority of violent crime in Durham.

"Generally, the gun violence is retaliatory. So, it’s people who are kind of engaged in these ongoing arguments either over music or social media, and the availability of guns makes those kind of arguments deadly," she said.

Because Deberry has spoken out in the past on issues such as reducing incarceration and ending cash bonds for nonviolent offenses, some have called her soft on crime. She refutes that characterization, calling her office "smart on crime."

"There’s a lot of research that shows that unnecessary involvement with the criminal justice system really destroys people’s lives. So, we want to only focus on the most violent things," she said. "What we’ve been focused on over the last two-and-a-half years is diverting less serious things [and] leaving the jail for people who need to be secured because they’re a danger to themselves or others."

Homicide convictions in Durham are up 42 percent this year from 2018, the year before she took office, Deberry said.
In addition to what the Durham County District Attorney's Office is doing inside the courthouse, Deberry is making an effort outside as well. On Thursday, she was helping the Durham County Public Health department hand out free gun locks as part of Crime Prevention Month.

"About half of the guns stolen in Durham County are stolen from people’s unlocked cars," she said. "So, we just want to give people other options to protect – if they’re going to have a gun, to make sure that the gun is not stolen and that they’re the only person who can fire that gun."

In addition to keeps guns out of the hands of criminals, the public can help combat crime in other ways, she said. One is to notify law enforcement when you have information to share.

"People see 'CSI' and 'Law & Order' on television and think we can rely on forensic evidence. That's just not true," she said. "The best evidence is always a human witness."

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