CHARLOTTE — Crime has been spiking at the Little Rock Apartments since school let out for the summer, said officers in the Westover Division of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.
They are focused on the problem, and it appears like they may be getting some additional help.
A July 4 shootout at 11 a.m. served as a wake-up call at the apartments off West Boulevard.
Residents aren’t leaving their homes, said Bart Noonan, with West Boulevard Ministries.
“The criminals are winning, so we have to take back our neighborhood,” he said.
Channel 9 veteran crime reporter spoke with Noonan and Charles Robinson last week about the violence at the apartments.
Their organization mentors children in the community.
They believe that Inlivian, which runs the complex, made a mistake by replacing security guards with cameras.
“The families there are not going to start being able to breathe until they start seeing things calm down,” Noonan told Counts Thursday.
Inlivian CEO Fulton Meachem met with the pastors, CMPD, and a representative from the West Boulevard Neighborhood Coalition.
Noonan said he was told that security guards would be making a comeback.
“I think it will make a huge impact,” Noonan said. “I really do, because just having the presence and that’s going to have people coming out of their homes and start living again.”
Measures are being made to keep people safe.
The CMPD Crime Reduction Unit has zeroed in on the complex and officers are encouraged to park on-site to fill out reports.
However, there are limits.
“We can’t have somebody there all the time, because we have our responsibility to the other parts of the division,” said Lt. Jesse Wood, with the Westover Division.
Residents want to see security guards return but police said surveillance cameras on the property have helped.
“It helps us to identify people and the order of events that crimes take place,” Wood said.
Community members say housing authority isn’t keeping apartments safe
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