Durham selects new 911 director for Dec. 14 start

On Nov. 9, Durham selected Ebonyse Fauntleroy to lead the Durham Emergency Communications Center. She is scheduled to start Dec. 14, succeeding Randy Beeman, who retired in late September 2026.

Fauntleroy is currently emergency communications manager for UNC-Chapel Hill Police. The city says she joined UNC-Chapel Hill in 2023, spent 18 years with the Atlantic City Police Department and has more than 20 years of public-safety communications experience.

The appointment sets a future leadership transition, not an immediate change to 911 service. The center dispatches police, fire and EMS across Durham County, serving about 350,000 residents over nearly 298 square miles. Fauntleroy is to lead 82 staff members. The city reported that 86% of authorized positions were filled in September and nearly 88% of incoming calls from January through September were answered within 10 seconds. That means roughly 12 in 100 calls were not answered within that 10-second window; the city gave no comparison period or target for the measure. City Manager W. Bowman “Bo” Ferguson named recruitment, training, development and retention as priorities.