More than two years after the initiative was first proposed, Fayetteville’s Office of Community Safety is up and running.
The city established the office in hopes of improving community safety through non-law enforcement solutions to crime, particularly by addressing the root causes and providing community-based interventions that prevent violence. The model is based around four pillars: community-based violence prevention, homelessness response, mental health response and diversion and youth initiatives.
John Jones, the new director of the OCS, attended a community engagement meeting in west Fayetteville on Thursday. So did the office’s two other staff members — community safety program manager Nichelle Gaines and community impact supervisor Orlando Smith, who spoke about their goals and desires for the office. Several dozen residents attended the meeting, as well as some Fayetteville City Council members, Fayetteville Police Department officials, city staff and community safety stakeholders.
All OCS staff members are originally from Fayetteville and graduated high school here. They all expressed enthusiasm for returning to their hometowns and building something never tried before in Fayetteville.
According to the staff, in its first months of operation, the OCS will focus heavily on community engagement and boosting programming for youth, as well as supporting and developing new violence intervention programs. Jones said he wants to develop programs based on the community’s needs and desires, and hopes to engage in open communication with residents through community-wide meetings, one-on-one interactions or collaborations with local organizations.
“I have an open door policy to my team, but also any of you all,” Jones said. “The OCS will be built off of community engagement.”
Gaines said she is focused on providing better opportunities for the youth of Fayetteville. Many positive programs already exist in the city, Gaines said, but the challenge is coordinating and providing information to the public. One of her short-term goals is to create a database where residents can see all available programming and take advantage of existing youth opportunities.
“So one goal is to try to get all that together in one centralized location,” Gaines said. “Because I’ve seen what a lot of the problem is, there’s so much that is happening that is available for you and really a lot of people just don’t know about it or it is so much that they don’t know which program to talk to or which program they want their child to participate in.”
The OCS is already starting its youth engagement activities, with a series of late-night youth programs this summer designed to provide fun activities and mentorship opportunities for kids ages 12 to 17. The first session will be Saturday (the registration deadline is passed). A second session will take place from 7 to 10 p.m. at the College Lakes Recreation Center on July 11.
The OCS staff is also busy coordinating with the PROOVE Project, a nonprofit the city contracts with that focuses on reducing violence through education and outreach to at-risk individuals. Jones encouraged any organizations or individuals that focus on violence interruption and intervention strategies to reach out to the OCS.
“We’re looking to do more work as this next fiscal year approaches,” Jones said.
As for the mental health and homelessness pillars, Smith is looking to strengthen the city’s relationships with various institutions, including Alliance Health, Cape Fear Valley Medical Center and the Cumberland County Detention Center.
“One of the problems I’ve seen within our system, where there’s a fragmentation that takes place and people continue to fall through the cracks or continue in that cycle and being institutionalized and not getting the care they need,” Smith said. “So we have to continue to work with all those partners to build that system. And I see the OCS as being a backbone operation that can help join those forces.”
Jones said the OCS is also looking for ways to implement a mental health response and diversion system, redirecting individuals from having interactions with law enforcement when they are struggling with mental health crises. One possibility is to have a co-response program, like Durham’s HEART program, which sends social workers and mental health professionals to respond to non-violent 911 calls along with law enforcement officers.
“That is something that I knew coming in, the council wanted and the community wanted,” Jones told CityView. “As of right now, we are looking into the strategies to develop one. It doesn’t mean we will, but we are looking into it because we know that’s what the community desires.
“In the meantime though, here’s what we’re going to do regarding any mental health concerns moving forward: As we get our feet a little bit wet and get a little more comfortable in where we’re sitting, we’re going to be having conversations with mental health partners to identify their steps and the ways that they can provide support in the crisis that may occur. And that for us addresses the immediate need, the short term response, while we work to see if it is feasible for us as the City of Fayetteville to have a co-response model.”
Government accountability reporter Evey Weisblat can be reached at eweisblat@cityviewnc.com or 216-527-3608.
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