What will Charlotte do to combat crime? City Council hears 9 potential solutions
Charlotte leaders heard multiple proposals for reducing crime Monday after months of presentations on the state of public safety.
City staff presented strategies that include adding more police officers, investing in community efforts and lobbying the state legislature for support. The proposals followed months of presentations on crime statistics, the root causes of crime and other public safety-related issues
Monday’s presentation laid out nine proposals for improving public safety:
- Funding more hiring by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police in coming city budget cycles
- Considering local ordinance changes to crack down on “nuisance properties” that are hotspots for crime
- Finding funding to launch a drone program
- Funding an expansion of Atrium Health’s hospital-based violence intervention program
- Launching a youth-led campaign to discourage juvenile crime
- Supporting programs that help formerly incarcerated people access reentry services
- Supporting a bill currently in the General Assembly aimed at improving police officer retention
- Lobbying state leaders for more funding for the Mecklenburg County District Attorney’s Office and local courts
- Talking to state leaders about options for bringing back a local juvenile detention center to the Charlotte area
Council member Tariq Bokhari, a vocal advocate for more city action on crime, said he would have “liked to see more teeth” in the plan, but it represents “a major milestone.”
“I think that the punch line and takeaway of all of this is, let’s make sure we don’t make this a one-time exercise and then move on,” the District 6 Republican said. “This is a living thing.”
Bokhari pointed to statistics on repeat offenders to reinforce the need to support diversion and reentry programs and improve communication between branches of the local law enforcement system. In 2024, 66% of people arrested for a violent crime in Charlotte had at least one prior arrest on their record, according to the city’s report. And 62% of juveniles arrested for a violent crime had at least one prior arrest.
“A smaller number of people are responsible for an outsized portion of the crime we face, yet they keep getting let out in a revolving door,” Bokhari said.
Council member Tiawana Brown, who was formerly incarcerated, runs a nonprofit to help women navigate the criminal justice system. Brown said any plan to address public safety must address the root causes of crime and systemic problems between law enforcement and some communities to succeed.
“If you’re going to change the trajectory of what we need to do for safety, the people that are involved need to be at the table,” the District 3 Democrat said.
Hesitations about proposal
At-large Council member LaWana Mayfield urged city staff not to move forward with the drone proposal until the City Council could have a more in-depth discussion about privacy and safety concerns. She also said she couldn’t support a push for a juvenile detention center without assurances it would never be managed by a private company.
The Democrat, who serves as vice chair of the council’s safety committee, called for a community survey to hear from residents and small business owners about their concerns and their feelings towards CMPD.
“We need to get that information before we put a whole lot of money, investment and time into what we have identified as to be some steps to move forward,” she said. “The community needs to be lock step with us.”
Crime was a focus for the council throughout 2024 and into early 2025 in the wake of a New Year’s Eve shooting uptown and an uptick in juvenile violence.
The council previously weighed forming a special committee to address safety and heard recommendations from city staff on millions in potential spending to combat rising juvenile crime. City Council members also voted 7-3 in early 2024 to recriminalize multiple city ordinances after uptown residents expressed concerns about “quality of life” issues.
CMPD leadership previously told the council in late 2024 violent crime and property crime was down year-over-year in uptown. Violent crime incidents, property crime incidents and property crime victimization were also down in 2024 citywide, CMPD said in its end-of-year report, though homicides and violent crime victimization ticked up.
On Monday, city staff reported overall crime is down 11% year-over-year so far in 2025, with violent crime down 19% and property crime down 9%.
This story was originally published March 24, 2025 at 9:14 PM.
