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The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department approached Wednesday night’s Fourth of July activities uptown as its final chance before the Democratic National Convention to deal with large crowds, and the operation apparently went smoothly.
Police reported only a few arrests in the center city despite tens of thousands of spectators spilling into the uptown area to watch the annual fireworks display.
Authorities say they arrested seven adults, and there were no arrests of juveniles. That compares with four adult arrests and 11 violations of the juvenile curfew law in 2011. More than 20 arrests of adults were made in 2010.
Men Who Care Global, an organization of African-American men who try to provide young men with counseling and leadership, joined police, the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office, the Charlotte Fire Department and Medic in patrolling the uptown area.
Charlotte city officials declared the Fourth festivities an “extraordinary event” for uptown, using a new ordinance that gives police extra power to regulate the types of items that people bring into an area. The designation also will be in place during the Democratic National Convention.
Rob Tufano, a spokesman for CMPD, said there were two arrests for disorderly conduct and two for resisting an officer. The three other arrests were for trespassing, intoxicated and disruptive behavior, and assaulting an officer.
“The officer who was assaulted did not sustain a serious injury,” Tufano said.
