County Votes on Policing Unincorporated Mecklenburg County

Charlotte, NC — After five months of debate, we now know that CMPD will continue policing unincorporated Mecklenburg County.

County Commissioners voted unanimously to the move Tuesday.

The framework says CMPD will patrol parts of the county in Mint Hill, Davidson, and Charlotte until 2022.

The county will pay $14 million the first year. That price will go up every year based on property value increase in the county.

“We don’t feel like we’re getting our money’s worth,” said Commissioner Bill James.
Commissioner James has been vocal about the deal because he represents that area. He says people in the county want proof that CMPD is worth the money taxpayers pay. That rate is set at 21.46.

“We do not have any information as to how often they go, how often the routes are,” said Commissioner James. “They agreed as part of this new agreement that they were going to gather that information.”

Starting in Jan., the contract says CMPD will give semi-annual reports on response time, crime rate, and other safety measures.

Based on that, commissioners expect to refine the tax rate in two years.

The other option was the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office.

That would have cost $11.5 million a year plus a $9.6 million start-up fee to buy equipment.

“So, you weren’t really saving any money, but you ran the risk that, after buying all that equipment, and if an area got annexed all of a sudden, you have a police department with nothing to police,” said Commissioner James.

Huntersville and Cornelius police will patrol unincorporated areas there.

The county managers say some aspects of this contract are still under negotiation like the performance data reports.

We will not know how much taxpayers will pay for police in Huntersville and Cornelius until the cities come up with their own agreements and present them to the commissioners.