CMPD Chief wants to turn Charlotte into safest major metropolitan area in the U.S.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Newly-appointed Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Estella Patterson is laying out her multi-part public safety agenda for the city. “We want to make sure that at your home, that your children can go outside and play and that you can feel that the community is safe,” Patterson told an audience Thursday morning. She was the keynote speaker at the well-known Hood Hargett Breakfast Club meeting in east Charlotte. She was introduced by former Chief Johnny Jennings, who said, “I couldn’t have thought of anyone better to come and replace me than Chief Estella Patterson.”

While addressing the crowd, Patterson declared a strict benchmark for her administration: turning Charlotte into the safest major metropolitan area in the U.S.

The chief detailed a multi-step plan to transform regional public safety, which includes reducing violent crime, expanding community engagement, and strengthening active partnerships with state highway patrol and local agency directors.

Patterson emphasized that while overall property and violent crime are down, specific areas demand an urgent response. She said, “Numbers are numbers, they’re important. That’s how we measure. But more importantly, we want people to feel safe.”

Juvenile violence and the recent rash of weekend “teen takeovers” are at the top of the list. Charlotte has also seen a 3% uptick in homicides. The chief emphasizes that traditional policing alone won’t solve the issue. She says, “We need every single person that’s in here that’s listening to me to be part of our crime reducing efforts. We have to rely on the community, (there are) not enough of us police officers to do it by ourselves.”

Chief Patterson says the department will release updated quarterly statistics in the coming weeks to show early metrics on how this aggressive new violent crime initiative is performing on local streets.