Charlotte ranked 8th in Crime....

[Gary]

Charlotte ranks among the 10 most dangerous big cities in the country according to a national crime report released today....and the compilation calls the Queen City even more dangerous in 2005 than in the prior year..... there go the property values

[barney]

Is anyone else as disgusted as I am with Police Chief Stephens? He is such a joke! First, he says we do not have a gang problem - LIE! Now he says the statistics showing Charlotte as #8 most dangerous city are wrong- LIE? Who knows what to believe.

Just like they do in A.A., admitting you have a problem is the first step Chief Stephens!

[Anonymous]

I am a student at UNCC and I've heard some students who grew up in the University area say that one problem is that the police in Charlotte will not chase a criminal if they catch them in the act. Is that true? If so, I guess this means that even if the police show up while you're in the process of robbing somebody, then as long as you run and don't get caught you've gotten away with it.

[Doug]

yeah then right after the announcement is made another body bag is brought in.....yeah no problem in Charlotte....ha !........I wonder how many murders there will be this weekend?...I say 3

[SKNL2]

Of course they chase suspects. Our officers have to follow protocol just like any other department in the country and our department's protocol more than likely doesn't differ much from theirs either.

Don't be ridiculous.

Now, do they catch them all the time? No.

[Anonymous]

Wow... I seem to have struck a nerve! I was only asking a question because I had heard from several people that the police don't chase. Obviously, crime is increasing around here and this was just a theory thrown out by a few students who are familiar with the area. I live in Union county and in my town there are so many police that I am sure they don't have enough to do sometimes-- consequently, our crime rate is low. On the other hand, there doesn't seem to be enough fear of the police in Mecklenburg county. If this rumor I heard is true, then perhaps that's one of the reasons why criminals aren't scared of the police.

[SKNL2]

No nerve. Just seems like a ridiculous speculation to me. Seems like a no-brainer. "Maybe the cops don't chase criminals in Charlotte." *ring ring* "Yea, hi. This is reality calling."

Crooks don't fear the law because the law doesn't deal with them. It's been covered here plenty of times.

[anon]

I don't live in NC but I had one of your little thugs try to mug me once on a visit to your city, hence my interest in this site. As an outsider looking in, it appears to me that the problem isn't so much the police, but the courts. If the police have arrested a 26 year old guy 45 times since he was 18 and he's still on the streets it sounds to me like the police are doing their job. I see this over and over on this site. Why do the decent citizens of Charlotte tolerate this from your court system. Keep it up and next year you're number 6.

[OnCrime]

Hi Anonymous,

CMPD does chase suspects... all the time! I listen to the scanner a lot and I have heard many police chases on foot. I do not hear too many car chases as I believe they have specific circumstances when they can chase a vehicle.

It is the perfect situation for the police when they catch a suspect "in the act." Our court system will not prosecute if they have few witnesses or little to go on. I have heard, the DA needs a slam dunk case or they will dismiss or plea down the charges. Attorneys are good these days! And.. people in the jury pools watch too much CSI and want to see DNA and all kinds of other evidence to say "Guilty." Many times that is unreasonable or unnecessary- based on the facts at hand but people want to see it all.

When my car was stolen- the police had a hard time charging him with felony auto theft because nobody saw him do it. He was very familiar with the system and knew not to talk. I questioned the auto theft detective, "Even though his prints were all over the car, he was the one driving when he ran from police and crashed into a tree and has a big knot on his head." I couldn't believe it! Needless to say, the charge of felony auto theft was dropped.

These repeat thugs are ruthless. The guy who stole my car left another stolen car- running in my parking lot. He brought his own ice scraper, sweatshirt, CD's, marijuana & marijuana pipe when he stole my car. The police recovered the pot and pipe and I recovered the rest of his stuff. I could not believe that he actually took the time to grab his "stuff" before stealing my car!! He has probably done this sort of thing so many times before and knows exactly what to do and comes prepared!

I got a little off track there but to answer your question anon- CMPD does chase the criminals.

[Chase question asker]

SKNL2,
You seem to be a very defensive person in responding to my very innocently asked question. Your second to last sentence makes absolutely no sense, so I am not sure what you are trying to say. However, you've made my question into a really stupid heated battle which quite frankly I am only going to exert the energy to defend this one time. I asked a question which I didn't know the answer to and at NO time did I ever state that what I was ASKING was a fact. You came back half-cocked, defensive and responding like the pompous ass that your picture on here portrays you to be. Great... the police chase criminals. That's all I wanted to know. My reading... you're a cop? I could be wrong. Am I?

[SKNL2]

I really don't see why your panties are bunched up.

Your question, if honestly asked, is a terribly naive one. If you took offense at the way I answered it, I apologize. It seems to me that you have become offended and that certainly wasn't my intent.

It's the interweb, man. You may want to lighten up a bit and thicken your skin. If you do, I will use more smilies. Will that help?

I cannot imagine anyone being naive enough to actually believe that a city police department doesn't give chase to criminals -- especially a department in a city the size of Charlotte. Just boggles my mind to think that there are people in the world that all you have to do is tell them something ridiculous and they would believe it. Guess it's the same quality in you that makes you think my avatar is really me. Must not get out much. That's Penn of Penn and Teller.

No, I'm not a cop. Not even a good guess.

Crooks don't fear the law because the law doesn't deal with them.

That sentence is in English. Its syntax is a little unusual but it makes perfect sense if your first language is English. Maybe yours isn't.

[adam]

actually, sknl2 is partially wrong, cmpd will only chase in a vehicle if its a violent felony, its a dept policy, so they wont high speed chase for a gas drive off but wil for an armed robber, but they will foot chase you for anything

[SKNL2]

sknl2 said:

Of course they chase suspects. Our officers have to follow protocol just like any other department in the country and our department's protocol more than likely doesn't differ much from theirs either.

[quint]

One word can sum up the crime in Charlotte "Blacks". Imagine for a moment that there was absolutely not one Black person in the city limits for one year. What would the crime statistics look like then? Until the Black citizens man up and admit that they are the problem and they are the solution then Charlotte will continue to decay just like so many other major cities in this country. All the policing in the world will do nothing if the Blacks in this city insist on killing each other and participating in every other area of violent crime.

[fiveo]

Wow, quint, you are being a little broad. I am a cop here in Charlotte. You saying "Imagine for a moment that there was absolutely not one Black person in the city limits for one year" is one of the dumbest things I have ever heard. You screw up your whole point with that one statement.

I work in a high crime area. The majority of people that I encounter are hispanic and black, and that is the majority of people I take to jail. I would still never say anything as retarded as that.

That being said, I also encounter plenty of law abiding black and hispanic citizens in Charlotte.

Lastly, plenty of us cops here in Charlotte are black, do you want to get rid of them too?

[karz10]

I think the quest's question about chases is likely related to what some have mentioned, the car chases. There has been a lot of rumor and discussion on this topic in the community and on the news (tv and radio) over the last year.

As someone mentioned, there is a protocol of when they can and cannot chase vehicles. So, that is where a lot of this discussion and rumor is coming from. The theory is, our officer's are not allowed to chase speeding vehicles for any old law breaking reason. Like on a lot of the COPs shows, where they see a broken taillight or something, hit the lights, car speeds off, they have nothing else to go on, but on COPs, they ALWAYS chase them, and of course it is COPs, so they usually catch them!

The theory is, that there's a large percentage chance, if you are a criminal, in the act or not, but are not desiring to be questioned or detained by officers, and they blue light you, you're best bet is to floor it and create a situation where they would have to high speed chase you to catch you, and there's a good chance they will not be able to chase you, based on protocol, or lack of approval to do so, especially if they do not have other sufficient cause to do so.

Now, where the theory and the reality meet, of when they will and won't chase, may not be widely publicized accurately, so as not to further embolden the criminals already acting on what they think they know about this policy.

Some people in the community, possibly the politica arena here, and possibly witin law enforcment management, I'm not sure who, or how far it goes, seem to think that innocent people will inevitably get hurt during these chases, and therefore are reluctant to broaden the terms allowing chases to continue.

However, it seems other people, myself included, think that we should chase at every opportunity, keeping public safety in mind of course. I believe that if in fact we have a limited (no) chase policy, then that is encouraging people to run for even smaller crimes. Whereas only the more desperate might think to run knowing they'd be chased, a so called 'no chase' policy would encoorage ever criminal to run, figuring they have nothing to lose and won't likely be chased/caught. Some have said they've seen this first hand, where at the first sight of officers, they peg it, potentially increasing the number of 'high speed getaways' even though they may not turn into 'high speed chases' and that the 'high speed getaways' can be just as dangerous, if not more so, since the theory is they are increasing in numbers, as a result of the alleged limited chase policy.

I believe Tara Servetius did a story on this over the past year, you might want to contact her blog for more info. I'm certainly interested to learn more about whatever the real policy is, compared to rumor and hearsay. But if there is a limited chase policy, I would like to see the officer's have more freedom to chase, when they feel it's the best thing to do. Of course any system has to have checks and balances, but I'd like our whole law enforcement approach, including protocols for officers, and processes for courts, DA's and jails get back to basics of presenting a more formidabble deterent to crime, and going after these thugs at every opportunity.

Regards,

Karz

[karz10]

Ok, to follow up, I was right, she did do a story on this. I know I heard about it on the radio, it might be on her blog too, but a quick google found this article on her CL column, however, the radio chatter I remember was a lot more in depth, and elaborated on a lot of points brought up here, including how some offenders that were caught by troopers and other neighboring forces were so surprised they were chased and caught, seemingly they had gotten away numerous times in Charlotte, or at the very least thought they could/would, so again, regardless of what the reality of the policy is, there's obviously the perception that in CMPD area, some of the public and some of the criminals think there's a no chase/limited chase policy for vehicles, so this is a legitimate question to discuss, and investigate if our policies are effective, IMO:

charlotte.creativeloafing.com/gyrobase/high_speed_loophole/Content?oid=166693

QUOTE:
News: Citizen Servatius
High-speed loophole
How you can escape the police
Published 05.30.07By Tara ServatiusAll we heard was the terrible high-pitched screeching of the tires as the SUV came tearing around the corner.

We didn't see it until it was bearing down on us because it was nighttime, the car was dark and the SUV's driver had left the lights off. My husband and I both dove for the side of the road, and the car missed us by a few feet. Moments later, the police officer the driver was fleeing from turned the corner at a slower rate of speed, his quarry already long gone.

My street is one of the few in my downtown neighborhood that isn't on the grid system. Because it dead ends, it sometimes trips up auto thieves who occasionally tear through the neighborhood at speeds exceeding 90 miles an hour in an attempt to outrun the police, who they know aren't allowed to pursue them above the speed limit. (In one case I watched a drunken auto thief puke all over the officer who arrested him.)

Most of the time though, these lunatics manage to elude the police because that's what the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police pursuit driving policy mandates: "Once it has been determined that the driver of a vehicle is refusing to yield," the policy states, "the officer will immediately deactivate blue lights and siren and cease attempts to pursue the violator when the reason for the vehicle stop is other than a felony dangerous to life."

In February, Mint Hill police chased a man in a stolen car through Charlotte who eventually collided with Roxane Javid, pushing her mini van into the path of a city bus. Javid wound up with a black eye and a neck injury. In the aftermath, The Charlotte Observer's editorial board, which has repeatedly praised CMPD's immediate surrender policy, joined others in calling for the Mint Hill police to change their policy.

But I'm not convinced that Charlotte's policy isn't killing people and neither are most cops I know. What no one is considering is how this policy is interpreted by the perps, whom officers say are highly familiar with it.

In fact, repeat offenders are so familiar with it that when they confuse state highway troopers, who are allowed to pursue them, with CMPD officers, they regularly tell the troopers who catch them in chases that they are going to "get in trouble" for chasing them.

They're right. Over the last decade, Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officers have been fired for violating the department's chase policy while trying to catch a speeding suspect. Police say that the bad guys have figured out that all they have to do to activate CMPD's anti-chase policy is to take off at a high rate of speed. If they are merely driving a stolen car and don't plow into anything in the process, they're rewarded by getting off scot-free.

The policy arguably cost Bob Daughtridge, a 48-year-old father of two, his life in 2002. William Thomas Young, 47, had just robbed a business and had a stolen cash register in his car when he peeled away from police at a high rate of speed and collided with Daughtridge. The police didn't know about the cash register when they drove in Young's direction on Monroe Road, intending to pull him over because he didn't have a license plate. The officer didn't have a chance to put on his lights or siren and didn't chase Young before he plowed into Daughtridge.

Though the department hasn't studied it, officers I spoke to for this piece believe that suspects attempt to elude them more now than they did before the department changed its policy in 1995. Several agreed with one officer's assessment that the policy may also have contributed to Charlotte's auto theft problem. Officers say it is far more difficult to arrest and prosecute people for auto theft if you can't catch them actually driving or taking off in the car. Sure, they leave finger prints, but they can claim later they just sat in it and didn't know it was stolen.

The department's own statistics may support that theory. The first big surge in auto theft in Charlotte -- a 16 percent increase -- was recorded the year after the tougher pursuit driving policy took effect.

And though none of the officers I spoke to would criticize the pursuit driving policy on the record, the buzz around the department is that it probably contributed to the death of Bruce Edward Lawrence, 55, and the serious injury of his daughter, Cassandra Marie Lawrence, 20, in a late-night head-on collision last week.

Pineville Police set up a road block in an effort to stop Demario Keonta Perry, 20, who was driving the wrong way at about 70 mph on Interstate 485 on Sunday. But Perry merely drove around them on the shoulder and kept going for several miles before he collided with the Lawrences.

Because offenders like Perry, who had been arrested before on other crime and driving-related charges, don't usually distinguish between officers of the various police departments, he probably knew, as other suspects who have blown by road blocks do, that Charlotte-Mecklenburg officers couldn't pursue him if he went around them and jacked up his speed.

That's exactly what Perry did, and the Lawrence family paid a terrible price for it.

Tune in to Tara Servatius' new radio show on NewsTalk 1110 AM starting June 4 at 9 p.m.

[slappy]

WOW, What a hot topic. Agree with me or not i will inject my opinion into this thread.
Charlotte is growing City, Like ANY other Major city in America it will have problems. Gangs , Thugs, drugs, Homicides etc. The police are understaffed, the jails are overcrowded, the DA's office lets people walk because charges wont stick , or are plead down to a lesser charge. The Police Cannot Police because they are so bogged down with routine stuff they cannot patrol. People complain about there taxes being raised when the idea of increasing a public safety budget is proposed. Its hard to recruit cops when the pay is low, the hours suck and the only thing that keeps these people working is off duty and the love of the job. I cannot count the times CMPD has been there for me, They have a tough job, give them some slack and instead of criticizing them ...ask them how they feel, I am willing to bet if crime issue frustrates you it frustrates them also.
Be safe

[quint]

I'm am aware that the city is growing and problems are inherent to that. What I've heard here is excuses for criminal behavior. Self discipline, obedience and self control are taught at home and enforced there as well. So long as the black culture in this country has little to no control over there youngsters then all the policing in the world will be in vane. Let's stop thinking that it's the Policemans job or the Teachers job to rope in the youth and start insisting that the absentee parents do it. Bill Cosby is the only black willing to come forward and call it as it is. Lets stop making excuses, look at the statistics of drop outs, teen pregnancy, incarceration then ask yourself who's really to blame. Man up and take control instead of thinking the Government is going to do it. Until then, this city and many others will fall into an even higher crime category, good citizens will leave and the rest is history.