3 CMPD officers resign amid racist text message probe

CHARLOTTE — Three of six Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department officers accused of sharing racist text messages have resigned, Chief Estella Patterson announced at a Thursday morning news conference. Patterson confirmed she supports terminating the remaining three officers. The officers were made up of three different races.

The racist texts go back several years but CMPD didn’t know about them until the SBI finished its investigation into former Officer Seth Elliot, who allegedly misused the department’s Flock camera system. That was when Internal Affairs’ investigation discovered the texts.

An independent chain-of-command board then held a hearing and unanimously recommended that the remaining three officers be cited for termination. Patterson said the department will request that these officers have their law enforcement certifications revoked so they can’t be officers anywhere else.

Four of the six officers were in the same class as the police academy, a class from 2024.

“So, I have not read all the messages. I can share with you that the biases show racial, sexual … they also show religious biases,” Patterson said.

Although Patterson concurred with the recommendation to fire the remaining officers, department rules dictate that the police chief does not have final termination authority. Official termination decisions rest entirely with a separate administrative body.

“I fully concur with that decision,” Patterson said. “The next step in the process lies with the Civil Service Board, which has the sole authority to terminate sworn members of the department.”

Patterson added that she hopes “to refer to the other three as former employees.”

Following the discovery of the messages, department officials conducted immediate internal audits covering the involved officers’ body-worn camera footage, traffic stop data, arrest records and external complaint histories.

CMPD reported that no evidence of misconduct has been uncovered in those specific records so far, but officials have engaged federal authorities.

Patterson added that, “CMPD asked its federal partners to look at the possibility of civil rights violations.”

Beyond the specific officers involved, Patterson raised concerns about whether such behavior exists systemically across the department. CMPD is expanding its review of officer behavior by continuing video audits and using internal monitoring tools.

Morale

Patterson said she and a deputy chief recently visited one of the department’s divisions to speak candidly with officers and gauge morale.

She said the officers she spoke with agreed the department reached the right decision regarding the allegations and wanted to focus on doing their jobs.

Patterson said the department will continue monitoring morale and emphasized that she supports officers who do the right thing.

“Our employees said to me, ‘We just want to go out and do the work,’ and I’m so happy to hear that,” Patterson said. “But we’re going to be gauging the morale because this is important. I want my officers to know that I support them when they do the right thing.”

This is a developing story. Check back with wsoctv.com and watch Eyewitness News for updates.