Huntersville to police its own unincorporated areas

HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. — Huntersville can now police its own unincorporated areas after Mecklenburg County commissioners approved the change Tuesday night.

Currently, the county has an agreement to have the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department patrol unincorporated parts of the county unless towns want to do it themselves.

Some are upset over the cost of the agreement.

Cornelius and Pineville will discuss opting out over the next two months.

One law enforcement group said if Huntersville wants to hang onto its officers, the town needs to pay them more.

In November, Channel 9 reported the competition to recruit police and found that CMPD aggressively recruited lateral officers by offering incentives like promotions within two years and the chance to transfer time off.

The Mecklenburg County chapter of the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association is pushing Huntersville to update the pay structure to keep officers and maybe even attract others.

“I'm sure there are people there that would rather be here, but if the pay was a little more competitive, maybe not dollar for dollar, but competitive, they'd make the change,” said PBA president Tom Slymon.

Some Huntersville leaders are worried the town may not be able to afford boosting compensation packages with an estimated price tag of nearly $900,000 to $1.4 million a year.

Huntersville's police chief said he currently has three open positions.

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