CMPD is pulling more people over — particularly for issues like expired tags
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Charlotte police increased traffic stops to about 91,500 last year, up from 67,200.
- Enforcement focused on equipment and regulatory violations.
- Speeding stops rose modestly while fatal crashes and injuries climbed.
Charlotte police stopped tens of thousands more drivers last year compared to 2024, city data show.
The enforcement surge primarily targeted non-moving and compliance-based violations, while speeding saw only a modest change in the number of stops. Equipment stops such as driving with a broken taillight soared by 71%. Stops for regulatory issues such as driving with expired tags increased by about 44% and accounted for the largest share of stops at over one-third.
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department pulled over about 91,500 drivers in 2025, according to the data. That’s up from about 67,200 the previous year.
A CMPD spokesperson could not immediately confirm the reason for the enforcement uptick.
“I’ve gone on the record saying we need to be a lot more assertive, not aggressive, in enforcement,” said city councilman Malcolm Graham, who serves on the city’s new safety committee. “Part of that is traffic stops.”
Speeding enforcement sees small change
Despite the surge in stops, serious traffic injuries and fatalities continued to climb due in large part to speeding. Eighty-one people died on Charlotte streets during the 2025 fiscal year, and 111 suffered serious injuries.
A recent report from the Charlotte Department of Transportation identified speeding as the lead contributing factor in serious and fatal crashes. More than one-third of those incidents involved speeding last year.
Speeding was the second-most common reason for traffic stops, yet its growth in enforcement was muted compared to other infractions, according to the data.
Police conducted nearly 24,700 speeding stops in 2025, up 14.5% over the previous year.
All other stops, meanwhile, climbed to a collective 66,800, or a 46.5% increase. That means, although police pulled over more speeding drivers, speeding accounted for a smaller share of overall stops than in years past.
Still, the CDOT report found crashes were down overall. Graham considers regulatory stops a necessary piece to public safety because they enforce “small things that sometimes grow into something larger,” he said.
“I don’t believe you can pick and choose which regulatory issues you have to enforce. If you see a broken window, you’ve got to fix it,” Graham said. “As we have a goal of making Charlotte the safest city in America, a wide variety of enforcement initiatives should be under consideration.”
The City Council highlighted traffic safety during a Jan. 12 meeting where leaders called the CDOT report’s findings “a crisis” and pledged to discuss their strategy during a retreat later this month.
This story was originally published January 22, 2026 at 5:00 AM.
