Charlotte City Council will vote on police reform, budget Monday. Here’s how to watch.
Funding for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department could be drastically overhauled Monday night, depending on a last-minute vote as City Council plans to adopts a $2.5 billion budget for the coming fiscal year.
CMPD is poised to receive $290.2 million, or about 40% of the city’s nearly $719 million general fund.
But City Council member Braxton Winston wants to slash any funding intended to buy new chemical agents — or maintain CMPD’s existing stockpile — for crowd control and dispersal, The Charlotte Observer reported Friday. He’s also calling for a City Council oversight committee “that scrutinizes and adjusts police spending and policy.”
Winston’s amendment comes less than a week after an incident at a George Floyd protest in uptown Charlotte, where police officers deployed chemical agents.
Winston tweeted on Saturday night that his proposal to “defund chemical agents,” which he will introduce Monday, still does not have enough support among City Council members to move forward.
On Monday, City Council will also vote on a resolution that condemns Floyd’s killing by Minneapolis police and reinforces that Charlotte “will not accept racism and discrimination within police forces and other systems that lead to such atrocities and erode trust.”
City Council “stands in solidarity and resolves to work alongside those who strive every day to root out racism in our society, including police officers, community activists, clergy, representatives of business, nonprofits and government and beyond,” according to the resolution.
The resolution would task the city manager to align CMPD policies with the national “8 Can’t Wait” initiative — including banning chokeholds and strangleholds, and requiring de-escalation strategies.
How to watch
The Charlotte City Council business meeting starts at 5 p.m. Monday. You can visit these sites to watch:
The Gov Channel (http://charlottenc.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?publish_id=669)
The city’s Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/CLTgov/)
Or, the city’s YouTube page (https://www.youtube.com/user/CharlotteGOVchannel)
This story was originally published June 7, 2020 at 11:41 AM.