CMPD: Overall crime is down 23% for Q1, but homicides are up

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police are touting lower crime numbers across the Queen City. In this year’s first quarterly public safety report, the department said overall crime is down 23 percent.

Chief Estella Patterson is crediting community collaboration for the drop, including a crackdown on youth crime. Patterson says, “Our juvenile accountability unit, it’s composed of officers who go out and talk to our youth, but particularly those who might be kind of on a path of crime. If they commit crimes, they go along, they talk to that individual. They also do follow ups, help them to make sure they get to…court, and just stay with that individual, because we recognize that when our youth commit crimes, that oftentimes they continue down the path of crime. So we want to prevent that cycle as much as possible.”

Homicides, however, are on the rise. So far this year, 22 murders have been reported across Charlotte. That’s compared to 16 in the same time frame in 2025.