Public Safety Committee Meeting - August 10, 2026
Public Safety Committee Meeting - August 10, 2026
The Public Safety Committee of Winston-Salem met on August 10, 2026, to consider consent agenda items related to highway safety grants and discuss updates on the Fire Department SUV Response Program and a Police Department public safety report. All consent items were approved unanimously.
Consent Calendar
- C-1 (26-0312): Resolution authorizing continued grant funding from the North Carolina Governor's Highway Safety Program (GHSP) for the BikeSafe Regional Coordinator Position (Year 7). Fully funded, no city match.
- C-2 (26-0313): Resolution authorizing acceptance of a GHSP grant for the Forsyth County Joint DWI Task Force (Year 17), execution of interlocal agreements. Grant covers 25% of costs; city pays 75% salary match ($64,125/year for two officers).
- C-3 (26-0334): Resolution and ordinance amendments for acceptance of GHSP grant for WSPD Overtime Traffic Enforcement Initiative (new speed enforcement grant). Covers 40 hours/month for 4–6 officers; fully funded, no match.
- C-4 (26-0333): Approval of the Public Safety Committee summary of minutes from June 8, 2026.
Motion to approve consent agenda passed unanimously.
Discussion Items
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G-1: Fire Department SUV Response Program Update
- Fire Chief Andrew presented an update on the pilot program using SUVs to respond to medical calls and lift assists in the Station 1 and Station 4 areas. The program operated from April 10 to July 16, 2026, handling 762 incidents and improving heavy apparatus availability by over 48%. The pilot was paused due to budget constraints (overtime funds) but may resume if resources allow. The program uses overtime-staffed teams (engineer and firefighter). The Chief noted that firefighters have requested expanding the program to the Hanes Mall area. Council members expressed support and encouraged exploring ways to integrate the program without significant additional cost.
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G-2: Winston-Salem Police Department Public Safety Report
- Chief Penn reported that violent crime (homicides, rapes, robberies, aggravated assaults) and property crime (burglaries, larcenies, motor vehicle theft) are all down compared to the previous year. Total crime decreased 13.4% through June 2026. Firearm seizures are on pace for approximately 1,500 this year (735 through June). The Chief noted a nationwide trend of declining violent crime. He also presented preliminary data on the new juvenile curfew ordinance (effective June 22, 2026): juvenile offenders during curfew hours decreased from 29 to 26; two parents were charged; and there have been no team takeover incidents since the ordinance began. Additionally, youth shooting victims (bullet-to-skin) dropped from 36 to 14 compared to the same period last year. The Chief indicated that the department will propose making the curfew ordinance permanent.
Key Outcomes
- Consent agenda approved unanimously.
- Committee acknowledged the Fire Department SUV Response Program as a valuable efficiency tool and encouraged continued exploration of funding to expand it.
- Committee received the Police Department public safety report with positive trends and discussed the curfew ordinance's early success. The Chief committed to providing future data and a proposal for making the ordinance permanent.
- Council Member Scipio reported on her attendance at the National League of Cities Federal Advocacy Committee meeting, highlighting a first responder wellness center in Louisville, KY, and suggested exploring a similar facility for Winston-Salem.
- Staff comments from Mr. Pate emphasized the innovative nature of both the fire and police initiatives and noted the societal issues underlying EMS call volumes.
Meeting Transcript
You're watching WSTV Digital Media. Good afternoon. And welcome to our August Public Safety Committee meeting. Welcome back to all of our council members from our little July break that was just too brief. And uh I hope you all got a little bit of rest. Um, and thank you to our Winston's Hill and PD and our Winston's Hill and Fire Department for all of the wonderful work you did this July. Uh particularly the Black Theater Festival that was absolutely a great week in the city, and I heard nothing but comments that were positive from all of the many visitors who came from almost every state and also across the water. It was amazing to take time and to be there, but importantly to see our officers on the streets. Oh, I'm gonna move to Winston Salem. They really have police everywhere. I feel so safe. I said, Yes, please do. We have police all over. But it was a wonderful week. And so thank you for Pete for all the service you gave and for our firemen. You're not always as visible doing the festival, but I know you were right there. And uh also for emergency management who had to come to duty. So having that kind of resources that come and take care of it. We're such a blessed city. So I thank you all. And uh we have three uh items on the consent agenda that pertain to the North Carolina Governor's Highway Safety Program. Just give us a little overview about this granting program. Okay, good afternoon. Again, it's good to see everybody. Hope y'all enjoyed your July. So we'll talk about three grants that the police department is being offered and awarded. One grant is new. That is our speed enforcement grant. That grant will cover 40 hours a month for four to six officers to focus on traffic enforcement. The strategic focus area this will affect is our livable community. So it will be focused on speed enforcement, but we'll also focus on uh seat belts and child restraint systems as well in that, and there is no match to the city on that. That is fully funded by the governor's highway safety program. And our next grant will be for our bike safe initiative. That is year seven for this grant. So this is not a new grant. What we do with that is our traffic enforcement unit who rides the motorcycles. I do a great job in the city for our escorts and other traffic initiatives. We have a bike safe coordinator. It is for actual motorcycles, so not bicycles as motorcycles. Again, this is year seven. What it does is teach new or inexperienced riders some uh trades to ride safely, and we hold those throughout the year several times a year. We post those online and through social media when we hold those again. Uh that costs the city that is a fully funded grant, so there's no match on that grant either. And the last one, uh, this one is year 17. It's our DWI task force, it's a countywide task force. Two Winston Salem officers are on that task force, and their focus is driving while impaired investigations, whether it be by alcohol or any other impairing substances, and we have seen those other impairing substances rise compared to alcohol. Now, this is uh the governor highway safety programs covers 25 percent, and the city will pay uh the 75 percent match of salaries for those two officers, which will be 64,125 a year. If I have a road I'd like for you to check for speeding, do I just send the note over? You can send that to uh assist the city manager rightly, she'll get it to us. We'll be okay.
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