Today, April 30, the City of Fayetteville held a Public Safety Summit at Fayetteville State University’s Rudolph Jones Student Center. This summit was designed to support the City's development of the Office of Community Safety (OCS) by beginning a broader discussion to address a range of public safety issues that are impacting Fayetteville and the country.

Fayetteville, along with other local and state partners participated in a facilitated discussion in order to come together and collaboratively discuss the four pillars of the OCS: violent crime intervention, youth intervention, mental health response and homelessness. 

Dr. Gerald Tate, who currently serves as the Executive Director of the North Carolina Office of Violence Prevention, served as the overall facilitator for the summit with Capt. James Jones, Nichelle Gaines, David Curtis and Devon Newton all served as co-facilitators.  Numerous other participants and partners, representing a variety of city and county agencies, provided input and guidance as well.

The issue is not necessarily a lack of resources, but often a lack of awareness and access to the resources that are already available. Tate emphasized how important it is that community members “know your ecosystem.” This sentiment encourages efforts to connect and refer the people in need with the resources they can benefit from. The discussion highlighted how many times emergency help may be sought, but if the right organizations aren’t brought in or aren’t able to provide services in a timely manner there are negative outcomes. This coordination of services is one of the biggest hurdles standing in the way of generating greater positive impact. 

This is just the beginning of a collective effort to see that Fayetteville is a safer community for all who call it home. 

For those who weren’t able to be at the event in person, the city live streamed the event on their Facebook page, Facebook.com/cityoffayettevillegovernment/.