Greensboro chief targets Summit Avenue corridor amid safety concerns
Chief Kamran Afzal is zeroing in on Summit Avenue, where residents and businesses say daytime disorder, drug use and traffic crime are wearing down the east side.
Around the Oaks Motel and nearby service stations on Summit Avenue, residents and business owners on Greensboro’s east side say public drug use, a growing unhoused population and traffic-related crime are shaping daily life and customer traffic. The corridor has become a visible trouble spot in daylight, with people along Summit reaching out to the city and police for help.
Councilwoman Cecile Crawford, who represents the area, heard from business owners about groups gathering on Summit and about concerns tied to addiction and public disorder. The district that includes northeast Greensboro logged more than 4,200 crimes against people in the first six months of 2026.
Kamran Afzal was selected as Greensboro police chief on March 31 after a competitive national search, sworn in on May 12 and started the next day. The chief reports to the Assistant City Manager for Public Safety. Afzal said Greensboro must address both the symptoms and the roots of the problem, pointing to poverty, addiction and the need for economic opportunity.
Greensboro Police’s crime-mapping system displays up to 180 days of crime data and can be searched by date, crime type or distance from an address, giving residents a way to track whether calls, assaults, thefts or disorder cases move up or down around a specific block. Crime data feeds into budgeting, long-term planning, service decisions, research and policy development.
Summit Avenue has also been on Greensboro’s planning books for years. The Summit Avenue Corridor Plan was adopted by City Council on Sept. 19, 2006, and the city’s streetscape work there has included drainage, water main, sidewalk, lighting, bus shelter, bike lane, resurfacing and landscaping improvements. The East Greensboro Strategic Plan and Eastside Park Redevelopment Plan are active references, and the city sought proposals in 2021 to sell and develop about 1.6 acres in the 300 to 400 block of Summit Avenue.
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