The Watch with Will Kennedy: Cops and Barbers

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CHARLOTTE, NC — Honest talk.

It’s what you get in barber shops across Charlotte, and across the country. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department is hoping to bring that kind of honest communication to Queen City neighborhoods with a program dubbed Cops and Barbers.

“We do have a problem in the African American community with law enforcement,” said CMPD Detective Gary McFadden. “That’s what they’re going to tell you, and we do have it.”

Detective McFadden is keeping it real, and that’s what you have to do in the barber shop. McFadden spent 30 years investigating some of Charlotte’s biggest cases, and knows the city well.

With tensions between law enforcement and the African American community seemingly at an all-time high, the time was right to open a ‘real’ dialog with Charlotte neighborhoods.   

“We want to have the conversation that other people thought about having,” said Det. McFadden. “We want to have the conversation where we know there it’s going to be arguments. We know it’s going to be disagreement. We welcome that. That is the only way we’re going to have the great take-aways from the events.”

The first installment of the Cops and Barbers initiative was a hit, with a big crowd turning out at the Greenville Neighborhood Center in February.

They were expecting 50 people. More than 250 showed up.

“Like real questions. And then in return, what happens is, they get the answers that they need,” said Shaun Corbett. “And then they walk away with information with the proper way. Well we treat you like this because…”

Corbett owns Da Lucky Spot Barbershop in North Charlotte. He’s one of the more than 60 members of the local barbers association hoping to head off problems before they happen. 

“There’s a lot that we both don’t know about each other,” said Corbett. “You know as far as the community, there’s a lot that they don’t know about dealing with law enforcement. And then as far as law enforcement, there’s a lot that they don’t know about the community. So we’re just trying to bridge that gap.”

“Often times we hear the same thing. ‘Well there’s no need to complain because they’re not going to do anything,'” said Det. McFadden. “But then when that officer goes out and does his third shooting, and then kills somebody, then everybody wants to talk at that point. We want to talk on the first incident.”

CMPD Chief Rodney Monroe came up with the idea for Cops and Barbers while getting his hair cut.

The next gathering will be at 3pm Sunday afternoon at the Naomi Drenan Recreation Center in Cotswold.