Director, Community Safety
City of Durham, North Carolina
Durnham, North Carolina, United States
Ryan Smith serves as Director of the City of Durham’s Community Safety Department which operates Durham's newest first responder branch called HEART (holistic empathetic assistance response teams). HEART adds new first response capabilities to the City focused on calls for service involving mental health crises and other calls involving houselessness, substance use, and other quality of life concerns. HEART began operations in 2022 and more information is available at www.durhamnc.gov/heart. Smith joined the City in 2017 where he first served as the Innovation Team (I-Team) Director. As the I-Team Director, much of Smith’s work focused on criminal justice reform. Prior to working in local government, Smith worked for Congressman David Price and for a diverse array of non-profits with missions ranging from teaching documentary photography to recently resettled refugee youth to providing free preschool to children living in poverty. Ryan holds a master's in public policy and master's in theological studies from Duke University.
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Responding to Crisis: Alternative Response Programs for Behavioral Health Calls
Monday, October 16, 2023
8:30 AM – 9:30 AM PST
