CHARLOTTE — Six Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department officers are under investigation for their involvement in a racist group chat, prompting calls from local civil rights groups for their immediate termination.
However, department leadership cannot directly fire the officers due to municipal civil service rules.
Chief Estella Patterson stated that the department does not tolerate behavior that fails to align with its core values.
While sources indicate officers have been cited for termination following the text scandal, Charlotte officers who have completed their probationary period have had the right to challenge disciplinary action through an independent board since 1929.
Norman Garnes, a retired CMPD major with more than 30 years of experience in law enforcement, served a term and a half on the Civil Service Board starting in 2012.
Garnes explained that department leadership lacks the legal authority to discharge an officer directly.
“The Police Department doesn’t have the power to fire; they can only recommend that to the civil service board,” Garnes said. Reflecting on his career, he noted, “I don’t think anything changed in policing in the basics in the last 50 years.”
If officers choose to challenge a recommendation for termination, the Civil Service Board conducts formal proceedings that function like a trial. Garnes stated that the Police Department takes on the role of the prosecuting party during these proceedings.
“Each side can put up witnesses; usually it might be a complainant against what the police officer did. In this case, the police department is the complainant,” Garnes said.
He added that board members spend significant time reviewing cases, noting, “We would sit for sometimes two or three days listening to evidence.”
Garnes also reflected on the background and expectations placed on law enforcement personnel.
“People forget police officers are not drawn out from someplace. Police officers come from our culture, and they have to be told what you expect of them,” Garnes said.
It has not been confirmed whether any of the officers involved in the group chat intend to challenge their potential terminations.
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