(DURHAM, NC) If the city of Durham’s budget passes next month, Durham council members decided on Thursday morning that as many as 20 vacant police officer positions could be cut over the next year to help fund the city’s new community safety department. The proposed community safety department will include a total of 15 employees who will be focused on alternative policing initiatives. Four of those individuals would be unarmed responders who could start responding to certain 911 calls as early as this fall. City leaders said these unarmed responders would be social workers and nurses who would respond to mental health calls, minor traffic accidents, and quality of life calls. More of this story here.