RALEIGH, N.C. — Last week the Raleigh Police Department and Downtown Raleigh Alliance held an update meeting on the safety of downtown Raleigh. These organizations have provided extra security and safety measures over the past couple of months after an increase in crime last year.

What You Need To Know

  • The Raleigh Police Department and Downtown Raleigh Alliance hired private security for certain downtown areas to help decrease crime

  • Capitol Special Police have responded to hundreds of calls over the past couple of months

  • Raleigh police say they have had increased calls for service and reported incidents due to help from hired security

“It's been a very active month,” said Roy Taylor, the chief of police for Capitol Special Police, a private security service.

In December, his team responded to 20 trespass issues, six fights, six assaults, 50 medical calls, 180 terminal and bus removals and over 200 smoking violations near the GoRaleigh bus terminal.

“I was expecting it to be quite high numbers from the amount of problems that we're having at the GoRaleigh terminal, as well as the surrounding area,” Taylor said. “So it's about where I expected it to be.”

These are just a few things that Capitol Special Police officers have dealt with.

“I think what we'll see is that the number of calls that have been put into the Raleigh Police Department are actually lower because we do have a presence there and are able to handle a lot of things without their intervention,” Taylor said. “We actually had three edged weapon events in one week, and one of the people was actually stabbed multiple times. So it just shows you that there is a need for an armed security presence there to, you know, limit that type of activity because it does happen even when officers are there.“

The terminal was one of three areas where the Raleigh Police Department and Downtown Raleigh Association hired more security.

At Tuesday’s quarterly update meeting, Raleigh police Chief Estella Patterson said the Glenwood South area, downtown core and transit areas have had increased calls for service and reported incidents. Thanks to more security presence, she says these calls are reported more often. Patterson said the goal isn’t to arrest their way out of their issues, it’s to make the community as safe as they can. Taylor agrees.

“My hope is that the number of activities is going to go significantly lower,” Taylor said. “It's hard to sometimes, you know, say, well, we're spending all this money and there's nothing going on. But we know from last year's statistics what we've been able to accomplish in one month, that it's going to stay low as long as we're there.”

Raleigh transportation manager David Walker said at the meeting that private security has had an immediate positive impact on the bus terminal. Bus operators and local business owners are thankful.

“It's important that we all work together in crime prevention in order to make our community safe,” Taylor said. “And we're proud to be a part of that. We're proud to work with the Downtown Raleigh Alliance and the Raleigh Police Department, because I think everybody is moving in the correct direction.”

At the meeting the Raleigh Police Department mentioned other things they’re doing to help decrease crime, including expanding special police units, improving traffic flow, adding street lights, installing safety cameras, and collaborating with business owners. The ACORNS unit is also helping address homelessness and mental illness in the city.

Taylor reminds people that the “see something, say something” rule of thumb will help make the city even safer.