Fayetteville homicides, suicides, domestic violence up, chief says quarterly review shows
Though overall crime in Fayetteville is trending down, Police Chief Kemberle Braden told City Council members on Monday that homicide, rapes and domestic violence felony assaults are all up compared to 2022.
Braden shared the latest data during his quarterly review of the Police Department’s performance, observations and community engagement efforts. Monday’s presentation focused on data from the third quarter, which ran from July to September 2023.
According to Braden’s presentation, the city is facing a 12.12% increase in homicides, with 37 incidents claiming 39 victims by the end of the third quarter in 2023. Last year, 36 victims had been killed by that point, Braden said.
Of those 39 victims, 50% were 25 or younger, Braden said, noting that 34% were 18-25 and 16% were under 18. Guns were involved in 81% of those homicides, he said.
Braden said that one particular point of concern for him was a 52.4% increase in suicides. By the third quarter of 2022, the city had seen 21 suicides, whereas in 2023, 32 people died by suicide by the end of the third quarter, according to the presentation.
“I start to get concerned when I see those double-digit increases,” Braden said.
Guns were involved in 69% of those suicides, he noted.
Domestic violence
Braden highlighted the department’s partnership with the Phoenix Center, a local nonprofit offering advocacy and help to victims of sexual assault and domestic violence, as part of his efforts to address domestic violence. Felony domestic violence aggravated assaults have increased by 30.26% this year, he said.
The Fayetteville Police Department started a new initiative with the Phoenix Center in March. Twice a week, the department provides the center with contact information for victims of domestic violence calls in the hopes of connecting survivors with resources. The center’s director, Deanne Gerdes, spoke at the council meeting Monday, sharing that 79 victims have been on the center’s list more than once from March to August alone.
Gerdes said that advocates with the Phoenix Center have successfully contacted 476 domestic violence victims through the partnership, while 596 couldn’t be reached due to wrong numbers, busy phone lines or issues with voicemails.
According to the presentation, 101 of those victims received services, including 27 who have filed for a protective order with the help of an advocate.
“They could be provided shelter, counseling, safety planning or using our crisis line,” Gerdes said. “What you don’t see on this graph are other things that have been happening as a result of what we’ve learned from doing these calls.”
That includes biweekly case reviews with detectives and monthly training with all local law enforcement agencies, Gerdes said.
“We are just part of a bigger puzzle,” she said. “We have a lot of agencies in Fayetteville that are doing really good things … We’re all trying to address domestic violence.”
Council member questions traffic stop data
In a familiar face-off, Councilman Mario Benavente questioned Braden about the department’s traffic stop data. The third-quarter review presentation showed that 22,557 Black drivers were stopped from January to September 2023, comprising 64% of traffic stops, while 11,237 white drivers and 1,353 “other” drivers were stopped.
“I’ve got to ask again, when it comes to this racially disparate outcomes when it comes to our traffic stops, what do you think is driving this difference in the ways that we stop Black drivers versus white drivers?” Benavente said.
Braden replied that drivers were never stopped on the basis of their race.
“We don’t stop drivers; we stop people for violations of the law, and we identify what those are,” he said. “For the past 15 years, this has been a topic of discussion. I just don’t know the answer as to why there’s constantly potentially a 2-to-1 ratio, as represented in this slide.”
However, Braden said, technology like in-car cameras and body-worn cameras and reviews of traffic stops help ensure that officers are stopping drivers for the “right reasons.”
“By the time you identify a vehicle that’s speeding and lock it on the radar, you have no idea what color or race that actual driver is when it’s 100 yards down the roadway,” he said.
Benavente also referred to data Braden presented in August showing that 624 Black drivers were searched in the second quarter of 2023 versus 167 white drivers.
“Last quarter, we noticed that even drug contraband being found was higher amongst white drivers than Black drivers and, nevertheless, Black drivers were searched four times the rate of anyone else,” Benavente said. “Is that still true this quarter as well, even though those slides weren’t included?”
Braden said he had not included a slide on searches to save time.
“I think I mentioned last time — the thing that I can say about that is probable cause existed in every one of those searches,” he said.
Benavente said he was also concerned about a disparity in methods of force used on different races.
“Is there anything that we’re doing to address the fact that 75% of our use of force is against Black members of our community?” he asked.
According to Braden’s presentation, 11 Black men were shocked with a stun gun from January to September 2023, while four white men, two Black women and one white woman were shocked during that period. While no white men or women of any color had weapons pointed at them during police encounters, officers drew guns on 11 Black men, the presentation states. The four people bitten by police dogs during arrests from January to September were all Black men, according to the presentation.
Braden told Benavente that race was not a factor in the use of force.
“We don’t train to use force based on race,” Braden said. “I don’t apply race to any training that I give based on use-of-force training, on traffic stop training, because it’s not based on race. It’s based on the violation or the presence and the need to utilize force.”
Got a tip for a follow-up? Government watchdog reporter Lexi Solomon can be reached at ABSolomon@gannett.com or 910-481-8526.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Chief Kem Braden talks crime statistics at City Council meeting
