CHARLOTTE — The local chapter of the NAACP is calling for an outside investigation into the six Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department officers accused of sending racist text messages.
Rev. Corinne Mack, the president of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg NAACP, publicly called for accountability as she and other supporters stood at the door of the CMPD Headquarters Friday morning. She said the officers involved should have their certifications stripped and their names made public.
Mack said she doesn’t want the officers to have the opportunity to leave CMPD and work for another department. She also said it’s disappointing the messages were only uncovered during an investigation into the misuse of Flock cameras.
According to CMPD Chief Estella Patterson, six officers of three different races had a text chain that went on for years, with messages that included racial slurs and sexist and religiously charged comments.
Three of the officers accused have resigned, and the others could be fired. Their cases are going before the Civil Service Board, the separate administrative body with the sole authority to terminate sworn officers.
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The NAACP president wants CMPD to search all officers’ phones to root out what she calls a culture problem within the department.
“The city, the county, the state and the federal government needs to be engaged in this process, and every person involved needs to be taking this as seriously as we’re taking it,” Mack said.
She told Channel 9’s Ken Lemon what Patterson said about the group chat’s content reflects a stunning bias.
“Absolute, direct competition on how many Black people could be arrested, how many Black people could get stopped, how many Black people could be further traumatized and harmed,” she said.
During a press conference Thursday, Patterson said the allegations against the officers are serious and deeply troubling. She promised the public this type of behavior will not be tolerated.
The NAACP said it is carefully watching the investigations and the police review board, as the board has ruled against the chief’s wishes in the past.
Mecklenburg County District Attorney Spencer Merriweather says his office must now look at criminal cases, both pending and past that involved those officers.
He says he will see if any of them deprived anyone of justice.
This is a developing story. Tune in to Eyewitness News at 5 p.m. and check back with wsoctv.com for updates.