Durham police solved only one homicide in first 3 months of 2022

That is one statistic the Durham Police Chief will present to the City Council on Thursday, as part of her first quarter crime report. It's already posted online.

Aside from that homicide clearance rate, the report also says that violent crime is up in almost every category.

Response times are a problem, too.

For many loved ones of victims killed by gun violence, an arrest means closure. There are still a lot of people in Durham waiting for that – including Betty Watson, whose best friend was killed by New Year’s celebratory gunfire.

"I really, really want someone to be arrested for that situation because it should have never happened that day," she says.

Watson was right beside her best friend – Delores Burwell – when she was killed.

"I loved Delores like she was in my family," she says. "And I’ll never forget her."

Only one of the 11 homicides between January and March have been solved. Aside from that, homicides, rapes and robberies are all up.

"Well it’s concerning of course when you see numbers like that. I imagine one thing they would say is this is the first quarter. There are three more quarters to go. But it’s certainly not a good start," says Larry Smith, who used to be interim chief of DPD. Now, he’s the spokesperson for the Durham Fraternal Order of Police.

He says struggles with hiring and retention are likely to blame – as officers try to do more, with less.

WRAL News reached out to police to see if they would comment on this story. No one was available, but they pointed out the chief will be commenting on the crime report during her presentation Thursday.