‘Same old story’: Frustrations grow over electronic monitoring program

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Mustaffa Jenkins has been arrested again and again -- at least 10 times in the last three years.

Despite being charged in violent crimes, he's been allowed to bond out of jail on electronic monitoring.

It’s cases like Jenkins’ that Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney has called out. CMPD has already changed its electronic monitoring program, and given this latest case, veteran crime reporter Mark Becker asked if more changes are necessary.

When police began looking for the person who had broken into a home off North Graham Street two weeks ago and stole a gun, they didn't have to look far. An electronic monitor put Jenkins at the scene of the crime.

He was already ordered to wear the device after being arrested in October 2019 for assault with intent to kill. Three days after he was back in jail on that charge, a judge signed off on Jenkins getting another shot on electronic monitoring -- if and when he got out again.

That’s exactly the kind of “revolving door justice” that Marcus Philemon and his Courtwatch group have been lamenting for years. He said judges and magistrates use electronic monitors as a crutch, letting defendants out of jail with low bonds.

“It’s the same old story,” Philemon told Channel 9. “Time and time again, multiple offenders that we’re tracking, they’re arrested every couple of weeks. Many of them have been on electronic monitoring.”

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Police are clearly frustrated, too. CMPD told Channel 9 it is still reviewing its participation in the electronic monitoring program.

The program does have its supporters, though.

“The fact that he was on electronic monitoring when he was charged doesn't mean that electronic monitoring doesn't work,” said defense attorney Jeff Thompson.

Thompson pointed out that all defendants except those charged with murder are entitled to bail, and, given the choice, most judges will naturally opt for the monitors.

“It allows the court to be confident that he will be monitored,” Thompson explained. “What he does when he’s on the monitor, I can’t speak to.”

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