CHARLOTTE, N.C.,None — Charlotte-Mecklenburg police fought back with words and their own statistics on Wednesday, two days after a report from neighborhoodscout.com labeled a north Charlotte neighborhood as the 11th most dangerous in the country.
[ Click here to see the full report. ]
"The numbers were quite off," Deputy Chief Kerr Putney said. "We can't replicate that data."
Police leaders took the unusual step of talking about the North Tryon Corridor's crime statistics in the neighborhood itself, surrounded by more than two dozen people who live and work in the community. Every one of them said they think the website is wrong.
The site claims there were 352 violent crimes in this neighborhood -- presumably in 2009, though the site's report does not specify -- but CMPD said its numbers from the FBI's Uniformed Crime Report indicates only 75 violent crimes in the neighborhood last year. The site also claims the area crime rate is 108 violent crimes for every 1,000 people, while CMPD said it's only 25 violent crimes per 1,000 people. Police leaders were clearly frustrated by the report.
"We were taken aback," Putney said. "I was annoyed by it."
"It's a bogus statement," Chief Rodney Monroe said. "It's insulting."
Maggie Johnson said she was insulted, too. She has lived in the North Graham community for nearly 30 years and said the report was yet another bad rap for an otherwise strong community. She called the report devastating.
"When I heard about this, I was wondering if this was what's driving down our property values," she said.
Already, community groups are doing damage control. North End Partners -- a community group that focuses on being an advocate for the area's improvement and redevelopment -- held its monthly board meeting on Wednesday with the recent online findings first on the agenda.
The group learned from CMPD that crime in the area was actually going down. In fact, CMPD said the North Tryon Corridor's 36 percent decrease in crime last year was the biggest drop across Charlotte and Mecklenburg County. CMPD also said crime in the neighborhood is down another 11 percent so far this year. Police credited bike patrols and neighborhood-assigned officers, as well as strong community support.
"Anyone who read those statistics, come and visit the North End," said Christopher Dennis, president of the Lockwood Homeowners Association. "Don't just read, come and see for yourself."
CMPD told Channel 9 it thinks the website might have compiled four years worth of crime numbers, though it only looked like a year's worth. Calls and e-mails to neighborhoodscout.com have not been returned.
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