Police Chief Rodney Monroe: Charlotte top job ‘is my last rodeo’

A day after announcing his retirement, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Rodney Monroe said he’s not mulling anything more serious than playing golf after he steps down.

But city council members have asked him to stay, he said, and he is keeping an open mind.

“Out of respect to those individuals … a number of thoughts are running through my head right now, but I can say right now that it’s still my intent to retire coming July 1,” Monroe said.

Monroe, 58, made his first public comments about his retirement during a news conference on the third floor of CMPD headquarters.

He reflected on the progress the department has made. He also said he has told city council members and the mayor that they should look strongly at internal candidates to fill his role.

“If you believe that the direction that we are going and heading in is the right one, then I think that we have to give the current leadership an opportunity to show that they can continue that same vision,” he said. “With that, it’s my recommendation that they look closely internally. I think that we don’t lose time and energy if we continue the path that we’re on.”

Monroe led the department during seven years of steady crime reductions, including a precipitous drop in the number of homicides. The year before Monroe started as chief, 75 people were killed in Charlotte-Mecklenburg. Seven years later, the department investigated 42 homicides, the lowest number since police began keeping track of uniform crime statistics in 1977.

But there was also controversy. A CMPD officer was arrested in 2009 for sexually assaulting women he pulled over on traffic stops, raising questions about how well the department vetted recruits. Questions arose about whether Monroe had actually done the work necessary to get a degree required for his job as CMPD chief. And in Sept. 2013, Officer Randall Kerrick was charged with voluntary manslaughter for killing an unarmed man who family members say was seeking help after a traffic accident.

Kerrick’s trial is scheduled for July, shortly after Monroe’s retirement date. He said he wasn’t worried about potential civil unrest related to the trial: “We’re going to be OK as a department and as a city. So the fear and concern about me leaving prior to the trial, I don’t have those fears or those concerns.”

Monroe’s seven years as chief were two more than he expected, he said. He’d been thinking about retiring for months and talking it over with family and close associates.

“I would never find the perfect time, so (I asked) what is the right time?” he said.

Monroe said he is likely not done working, but that he won’t head another police department.

“I’m not looking to become a chief anywhere else,” he said. “This will be my last rodeo.”

This story was originally published May 19, 2015 at 6:27 PM with the headline "Police Chief Rodney Monroe: Charlotte top job ‘is my last rodeo’."