Raleigh police launch summer action plan for safety, outreach

Raleigh police are treating summer as a high-risk stretch, not just a busier season on the calendar. The department’s new Summer Action Plan runs from June 1 through Aug. 31 and is built around crime prevention, strategic enforcement and community engagement, with Chief Rico L. Boyce saying, “Public safety is always our top priority.”

The plan is built around five strategic priorities: community engagement, crime reduction strategies, operational efficiency, accountability and leadership, and employee development and wellness. Police said the enforcement side will focus on violent offenders, repeat criminal activity, impaired driving, juvenile crime, reckless driving and unlawful loud exhaust systems, issues that tend to spill into neighborhoods, commercial corridors and nightlife areas when the city is most active.

Raleigh is also pushing a new public-facing tool called CrimeMapper, which lets residents view police incident activity across the city. The department said the interactive map uses the same data as the City’s Open Data Portal and is meant to improve transparency while protecting sensitive information. That adds a data layer to the summer plan, giving residents a way to track where officers are concentrating attention as the season unfolds.

The outreach side is broader than patrols and tickets. The Raleigh Summer Safety program will include education on water safety, road safety, nightlife safety, fire safety and outdoor safety, paired with information sessions and activities. Youth programs tied to the plan include Raleigh Hoop Nights, youth summer camps, mentoring opportunities and the Public Safety Cadets program. Police said ACORNS, which began in 2021, has already made more than 2,000 community contacts, while the department’s Community Engagement Division was established in 2025 to build trust and coordinate outreach.

The city is also trying to show that the plan has measurable value, not just seasonal branding. Raleigh police said the 2025 Summer Action Plan, the first in department history, was followed by crime that was down or unchanged from the year before. City data from 2025 showed violent crime down 1%, property crime down 17% and traffic fatalities down 3% year over year. In the first quarter of 2026, homicides were down 64%, from 11 to 4, though robberies edged up.

The push comes after a spate of violent incidents downtown, including a shooting outside the Wake County Courthouse, a stabbing near Moore Square and an April shooting on Glenwood Avenue. City leaders also approved more than $1.8 million in private-security contracts for some downtown parking areas and at Nash Square and Moore Square in August 2025, underscoring how much public safety pressure remains in the core of Raleigh. Police are pairing the summer plan with a June 9 teen violence-prevention town hall at Greg Poole Jr. All Faiths Chapel in Dix Park, a sign that the department wants to be seen not only enforcing the law, but trying to prevent the next call for service before it starts.