It's taking time, but the probation and parole system in Durham is getting more officers.

"The not so good news that concerns me is the fact that, in my opinion, there is a work overload issue that needs to be resolved," said Howard Clement, city councilman and Crime Cabinet member. "How many clients can a probation office really handle?"

Friday, Durham's Crime Cabinet once again heard an update on Durham's Division of Community Corrections. 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.

"I'm not ever going to be satisfied until we get 100 percent staff and 100 percent trained," said John Lee, Judicial District Manager for Durham's Division of Community Corrections.

The office went from 17 vacancies last year to eight in November. There are five now.

"I learned yesterday that three of those positions will be posted next week," Lee told the Crime Cabinet members Friday afternoon.

Lee said the current workload average for community officers is at 120. The recommended average is 110. Some members believe the state should re-evaluate that recommended average.

"I cannot sympathize with those numbers," Clement said. "On what basis can they conclude those are reasonable numbers?"

One of the other factors in understaffing: it takes time for officers to go through training. Lee said six months is an extreme case, but it's happened in certain circumstances.

"They are making big strides in shortening that time frame," Lee said. "It is working faster now than what it has worked in the past."

Five of his officers are currently waiting going to training, in fact.

The Crime Cabinet has made probation and parole updates a regular part of its meetings. They expect another update in March.

"If we had all our positions filled, we would meet the current guidelines," Lee said.

Several members of the Crime Cabinet also told Durham police they would like to see a better paper trail explaining what happens to firearms used in gun crimes.

"There's a perception that when criminals are arrested with guns, the guns disappear when they go before the judge," Melvin Whitley said. "We need to be able to determine what happens to the guns at the time the criminals goes before the judge. The perception is it gets plea-bargained away."

Several members of the police department explained that once they seize a gun, it's either destroyed or ordered by the court to be returned to its lawful owner.

"It may just be getting the information out," said Judge Marcia Morey, a member of the cabinet. "In a courtroom, that's very important for victims to see what's happened."