Let’s try and flesh out what it is CMPD Chief Rodney Monroe is trying do to get more officers on Charlotte’s crime-ridden streets. And, more importantly, how that is being received within CMPD.
For that, we’ll turn to an actual CMPD officer, Peter Grant of the South Division. Grant sent out the following email to homeowner associations across the division the other day:
We wanted our communities to be aware of a temporary change that will be taking place over the next several months. Chief Monroe has identified several areas within the department that have experienced sharp increases in property crimes, more specifically, Larceny from Auto’s and Residential Break-ins. Two of those areas are within the South Division. In order to properly address the increase in these areas, we are reallocating some of our resources. Part of the reallocation affects the Community Coordinators, Traffic Team, and some Division level investigators. We now have two teams of six Officers whose primary focus is the areas identified as having the highest increases in Property Crimes. These teams will not answer routine priority 911 calls. They will be proactively patrolling targeted areas looking for suspicious persons and vehicles. These two teams are currently working from 7pm to 3am in the targeted areas, but are constantly examining data to ensure that we are putting these resources to the best use in accordance with time and location of these crimes.
The Chief has asked us to assess how everything we do impacts crime. If it’s not impacting crime, we shouldn’t be doing it. This new focus will affect the flexibility we had in our schedule to set up and attend meetings, school programs, Officer Friendly programs and our availability during the day. We will still be checking our e-mail and corresponding with our communities the best we can. We still highly value our relationship with the communities in our area and will continue working with you with this new focus. We appreciate you patience with this change. Hopefully, you will see a decrease in the property crimes in the area and see more officers in the neighborhoods.
Very interesting tone, slightly passive aggressive. Chief Monroe is telling his guys and gals — even in South Division — to cut down the feel-good PR stuff and hit the streets looking for bad guys. And the response seems to be a resigned, “Well, OK. If you say so.”
Moreover, with this change in tactics Monroe is implicitly telling his officers to treat all of Charlotte as a high crime area, not just selected pockets. Now the cul-de-sacs off of Providence and Quail Hollow and Carmel will get the same treatment as Hidden Valley. Watch that ruffle feathers within and without CMPD.
Bonus Observation: The gap between the approaches of Chief Monroe and Pete Gorman could not be wider. Where Monroe looks to cut out the PR spin, Gorman grows it. Where Monroe emphasizes frontline resources, Gorman cuts teachers and assistant principals and grows six-figure Ed Shed brass.
