Community Calls for End to Charlotte Violence

CHARLOTTE, NC —  62 murders in 2015. Three deadly, officer-involved shootings during the holidays. Charlotte is experiencing a surge in violent crime. Some think more police presence could be the answer, but community leaders say the solution will take more than that.

“Enough is enough,” says Charlotte community organizer Shaun Corbett. “We have a lot of people dying here lately.”

Those 62 lives lost to murder last year, shootouts with the police, armed robbery, home invasion, assaults; violent crime is up in Charlotte.

“Talk is cheap these days,” says Mario Black with the Million Youth March of Charlotte. “And as we’re seeing, just talking is not decreasing the number of violent situations that we’re seeing in the city of Charlotte.”

CMPD Chief Kerr Putney has asked city council for more officers to help push back against the violence, but QC community leaders say it will take more than that.

Native Charlottean Mario Black says it starts in the neighborhoods, bringing back things like open rec centers, bringing people together to restore that sense of community.

“Bring some of those outlets back, we’ll begin to see a decrease,” says Black. “As well as adults stepping up, letting these young people know put these guns down.”

“Showing our children that there are other ways to do things other than the wrong way,” says Charlotte radio personality Vonyetta with Power 98. “So we have to come together collectively and just each one, teach one.”

CMPD and community leaders like Corbett are taking their message to the schools, hoping to combat a culture where conflicts are resolved with violence, often with deadly consequences.

“They feel like no one hears them, so the violence is the only answer,” says Corbett. “So one of the things that I tell the kids when I go into the schools to talk is that they are the ones. They’re the next generation. They’re the ones that can stop the cycle.”

“You don’t have to answer a question with violence,” says Vonyetta. “It is okay to walk away. Making that wrong decision can cost you your life in so many ways, either behind bars, or six feet under, and no one wants either or.”

In 2008, CMPD asked city leaders for 250 more officers, but only got half that amount. Crime did go down when new officers were added to the force.