Some Durham city and county leaders said the state is taking too long to fix the parole system in their district. They don't think it's supplying enough funds to do the job well either.

"The problem is not being resolved," Councilman Howard Clement, III said. "It's just being exacerbated as far as I'm concerned."

The cabinet, comprised of government officials from both county and city governments and organizations, agreed to petition state legislators next month and ask for more money. The secretary and director for the state Department of Corrections, Division of Community Corrections will appear at a legislative meeting Oct. 7.

"The Durham County Office of probation is grossly understaffed," Clement said. "The probation officers are overworked with the per capita load each has to carry."

There are 65 officers now. However, there are nine vacancies and it takes time to get those employees trained and ready for full-time parole duty.

Lightening the workload of those in The Division of Community Correction was just one of the suggestions in a Department of Justice report. The initial call for an overhaul came after the murders of two Triangle-area college students, Eve Carson and Abhijit Mahato. In both cases, the suspects were on probation at the time of their arrests.

"A lot of things have been looked at. Improvements have been made." said John Lee, Judicial District Manager for Durham's community correction office. "It's better now than it was a few months ago. A few months from now, it'll be better than it is now."

But Durham's elected officials said there's been enough time to fix the problems.

"It's mid-September and we're still talking about the same old thing," Brown said.

Clement said none of those involved in fixing Durham's district actually live there.

"They don't know what I'm feeling, because they live in another jurisdiction. I want Durham people involved in the process," he said. "They talk about issues dealing with probation, but they don't feel our pain, they don't live here."

He also said the Crime Cabinet is going to petition for more funds for salaries because retaining officers is a major issue.

"Obviously, $30,000 is inadequate," he said about officers' average starting salary range. "You get what you pay for."