Sugar Creek community pushes for crime solutions in ‘place of devastation’
A couple hundred community members gathered Wednesday evening to discuss ways to increase public safety within the Sugar Creek corridor and surrounding neighborhoods.
Passionate voices filled the room to express their concerns about the consistent rise of drugs, crime and substance abuse impacting their communities.
“We are in a place of devastation. This is not a quick fix,” said event organizer Charles Robinson, who lives in Hidden Valley.
Robinson, along with a panel of four, addressed attendees during the second of a four-part activist series at the Sugar Creek Recreational Center.
Historically, Sugar Creek, Hidden Valley and surrounding areas — predominantly Black and brown communities northeast of uptown — have had challenges with escalating crime, especially along West Sugar Creek Road. There are a number of small motels and the strip attracts sex and drug trafficking activity, The Charlotte Observer previously reported.
“You cannot sit outside the business corridor and continue to prostitute yourselves, and think this community is going to lose home value because you made that decision,” he told attendees. “You can’t do that in my neighborhood, because we can’t do that in anyone else’s neighborhood.”
Local nonprofits, community associations and local members all pushed for answers and suggestions from the panel of city council and county elected officials.
Some examples of things attendees say they wanted changed included closing down a blood bank on Reagan Drive and asking hotel owners with properties along West Sugar Creek Road to do their part to keep the area safe.
“I don’t know about you guys, but I’ve seen the devastation. I’ve seen the crime, drugs and violence. And if you’re here tonight, you’ve probably seen it too,” says panel moderator Charlene Henderson.
Henderson, who is running for the District 1 seat on the Charlotte City Council, recaps general community complaints regarding the area’s lack of improvements since the city’s Corridors of Opportunities program began in 2017.
“All I can see is the same old, same old. [Community members] want to have places to live, thrive, grow and retire,” says Henderson.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Capt. Demarco Jeter, who works in the North Tryon Division, eased concerns about “overpolicing “ and the measures being taken to prevent the violence in the North Tryon area.
Jeter told attendees CMPD began heavily policing the Sugar Creek corridor between 2018 through 2020. During the two year period, they made 400 arrests in a less than 1-square-mile area.
“We cannot arrest our way out of this situation. We have to have resources in place so it does not create the typical revolving door of going back to the streets,” Jeter said. “It doesn’t happen overnight.”
Panelists also pushed for collaborative effort between police, community members and activist groups.
Rev. Corine Mack, who heads the NAACP Charlotte-Mecklenburg Branch, advocated for more resources to help with mental illness and substance abuse within the corridor.
“Reimagine what this [change] will look like,” says Mack.
Mack also encouraged accountability and action from community members to take their part in aiding the rise of violence and crime locally.
“If we say we love our blackness, we need to show that in a way which would elevate that specific individual and the entire community. It does work when we keep us safe,” Mack said.
Mayor Pro Tem Danté Anderson, who represents Charlotte’s District 1, emphasizes that “this is a whole community effort” to break the cycle of substance addiction, human trafficking and mental illness.
“It’s about finding solutions,” Anderson said.
Anderson also highlighted the need for resources for the younger generation within the six Corridors of Opportunity.
Robinson grew up the Hidden Valley area and said many believe that the Sugar Creek community doesn’t produce successful people.
But that’s not true, he said.
“Mayor [Harvey] Gantt was a resident when I was a kid, so we watched leaders come out of our community,” Robinson said. “And we are producing leaders. My son’s a doctor, and one ... is a fireman in Charlotte. We are producing folks that are productive, contrary to what you might hear.”
Robinson has been serving the northeast Charlotte community for 20 years. Among his accomplishments, back in 2020 he launched a food drive that at one time provide up to 6,000 meals a week to families in need during the pandemic.
He told The Observer he plans to continue to aid his community by partnering with more local nonprofits and organizing future events.
“We need to know the clear plan of action. We have to have some answers for our community, I hope that you continue to see this thing through. We are in it for the long haul, family,” said Robinson.
