City progresses on hiring community safety director

Fayetteville is one step closer to hiring a director for an Office of Community Safety (OCS), an unofficial entity that will fill gaps in the city's public safety initiatives, particularly in coordinating and evaluating the city’s responses to mental health crises, homelessness and violence interruption programs.

“Housed within the City Manager’s Office, this individual will collaborate with the senior assistant to the city manager for public safety and others to address livability issues previously managed solely by the Fayetteville Police Department,” City Manager Douglas Hewett wrote in the city’s 2024 budget summary. “This pilot program, the Violence Interrupter Program, and other public safety initiatives aim to create a safety net for those experiencing mental illness, homelessness and related challenges.”

Jeffrey Yates, assistant city manager, said at a meeting of the Community Police Advisory Board on Wednesday that city staff had interviewed 10 candidates for the position last week. Hiring staff are in the process of carrying out an assessment center for the candidates, which includes performance-related exercises that resemble work situations. 

“We’ve had quite a good turnout of really highly qualified candidates,” Yates said. He believes the search will yield “a good result” as it progresses. 

The Fayetteville City Council formally voted to include funding for it in this year’s budget at a work session in May, ultimately allocating $250,000 to the position when the budget was approved in June. The OCS director position was advertised on July 31, according to the job posting, and comes with a yearly salary range between $120,166 and $140,000. 

The search for an OCS director comes after community activists campaigned for months for the city to create the office, with the goal of bettering the city’s mental health response, improving violence interruption programs, homeless resources, and providing independent police oversight. Advocates successfully pushed for an OCS by organizing a town hall, holding rallies and posting a petition for the OCS and spreading the word on social media. 

In advocating for an OCS, residents pointed to examples in peer cities like Greensboro and Durham. According to its website, the Greensboro Office of Community Safety performs several functions, including but not limited to managing alternative responses to calls for service, allowing the Greensboro Police Department to “focus on issues relevant to law enforcement” and allowing for “transparency and accountability for both the police and community.” 

Fayetteville has not yet formally announced the OCS’ goals or formally recognized its official existence, other than announcing a search for a director. The director job description currently states that the person ultimately hired will work to “establish the vision, goals, objectives, and deliverables for OCS in line with the city of Fayetteville vision and priorities.” 

Advocates had hoped the OCS director would provide independent oversight in cases of suspected police misconduct like officer-involved shootings. City officials have not yet indicated to what extent this will be part of the director or office’s function. 

“Really what the job is envisioned to do is largely coordinating, so trying to bring community resources together,” Yates said Wednesday. “So they're not strictly advisory, they'll have staff eventually, but they will have no oversight over the police department. There's not a way under North Carolina law to really have police oversight other than the police chief.” 

As per the job description, the OCS director will: 

• irect, plan, organize, lead, develop and implement the overall operations of the Office of Community Safety.
• Serve as a liaison with community groups, residents, federal, state, City agencies, educational and community-based organizations.
• Oversee, implement, execute, and evaluate OCS programs; monitor progress and efficiency using performance benchmarks and community indicators; identify areas of improvement or perceived gaps and make necessary changes.
• Develop alternative crisis intervention and response mediums; conduct robust community and stakeholder engagement.
• Administer, direct, and recommend the OCS budget, including grant proposal development; monitor and administer grant-funded programs to ensure compliance and report funding activities; analyze fiscal data to determine resource needs and approve expenditures.  
• Direct staff community engagement efforts with community groups, stakeholders, and residents; identify problems and implement solutions using appropriate resources.
• Establish the vision, goals, objectives, and deliverables for OCS in line with the City of Fayetteville vision and priorities.
• Select, train, motivate, and evaluate department staff; provide or coordinate staff training; work with employees to correct deficiencies, implement discipline procedures. 
• Review and analyze reports, legislation, court cases, and related matters; may assist in preparing the initial responses for legal actions.
• Respond to and resolve difficult and sensitive citizen inquiries and complaints. 

Yates emphasized that the director will not disrupt the city management chain of command, in which the police chief reports to the city manager. 

“The OCS director won't be in the middle of that chain, but they’ll do a lot of the other stuff in the community and (be) trying to link these resources, homelessness, all these non-law-enforcement components, which is the biggest challenge,” Yates said. “We have a lot going on in Fayetteville that's just disjointed.” 

Contact Evey Weisblat at eweisblat@cityviewnc.com or 216-527-3608. 

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