Sheriff Clarence F. Birkhead discusses the Durham HEART Program with Director Ryan Smith.   HEART which stands for Holistic Empathetic Assistance Response Teams was launched on June 27th, 2022.  The 3 crisis response pilots aim to connect people experiencing non-violent mental health crises or quality of life concerns with the right care by sending new responses that better match residents’ needs. A fourth pilot launched at the end of September 2022. Our goal with these pilot approaches is to connect our Durham neighbors to the right care — starting from the point at which someone calls 9-1-1, to the warm handoff to those prepared to help meet the needs of our neighbors in crisis.

In this inaugural episode of the Durham County Sheriff's Office podcast "Star Talk", Sheriff Clarence F. Birkhead discusses the history of the Office of the Sheriff and the Durham County Sheriff's Office, and the agency's role in the community.