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Charlotte neighbors hope city budget will help curb violence

By Glenn Counts, wsoctv.com
By Glenn Counts, wsoctv.com

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Charlotte-Mecklenburg police are hoping that the City Council goes along with a funding increase that will put 62 additional officers on the streets.

[RELATED: City manager's proposed budget to detail plan to pay for more CMPD officers]

One of the neighborhoods with a keen interest in the talks is Smallwood in west Charlotte.

Smallwood residents said police cars have become a familiar sight. A shooting Sunday at Martin Luther King Park was another reminder of how things have changed.

“You know we didn’t hear all the gunshots and all the stuff we hear now. It was nice here,” neighbor Nathaniel Ford said.

Ford, 70, is a retired steelworker who has lived in the neighborhood for more than 20 years.

His 63-year-old neighbor, who didn’t want to be identified, has lived in the Smallwood for 35 years.

“Nowadays, young people don’t have the empathy like we used to when we were growing up. They don’t care whether to shoot you down or not if you look at them crazy,” she said.

The city manager is recommending a budget to fund 62 additional officers plus 25 civilian positions at a cost of just over $6 million.

“Anytime that they can get more officers on the street, I think that would help. It would help tremendously if they can do that,” Ford said.

CMPD said if they get the 62 positions, the officers will be spread out to all 13 divisions, which would add about four officers to each division.

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