Violent crime was flat in 2023, but property crime jumped

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department gave its end-of-the-year crime report Thursday, and said while overall crime has gone up 14% in Charlotte, there has been an 11% decrease in homicides compared to 2022.

“Staying flat in violent crime is no small feat in a city as large and as fast-growing as Charlotte,” Special Investigations Bureau Major Michael Ford said in a statement.

But property crimes surged, many of them being auto thefts and larcenies. CMPD’s biggest concern is juveniles who made up 68% of auto theft suspects in Charlotte last year.

That’s in large part due to the Kia/Hyundai social media challenge that encouraged young people to target those types of cars. There’s been a 600% increase in thefts of both manufacturers combined, with 5,342 stolen compared to 756 in 2022.

Police said there hasn’t been enough done to deter youth crime, and that many people under 18 are arrested and released too quickly.

“This is an issue that is impacting the entire city and state of North Carolina,” CMPD Major Ryan Butler said.

“We’re going to continue to see our Charlotte residents preyed upon by juveniles who do not fear repercussions for their actions.”

The number of juvenile shooting suspects jumped 33%, to 108, and the number of juvenile shooting victims increased 18%, to 476.

CMPD Chief Johnny Jennings said the department is looking at ways to help local youth.

“We are constantly looking at different things outside of what we what we already do through juvenile diversion programs and our summer programs that we have for youth,” Jennings said.

“There’s a couple of other things that we are looking at, that we have been piloting that we're wanting to put in full force, but I think those will be successful and we're talking specifically about recidivism. So when we have contact with a young individual, we want to make sure that they do not reoffend, and become a chronic issue for law enforcement.”

While youth crime was a major focal point in 2023, uptown Charlotte also had a host of high-profile shootings that occurred last year. Most recently, a shooting at Romare Bearden Park left five people injured on New Year’s Eve.

Last year, CMPD said it put its resources into what is known as operation “Heartbeat,” which focused on reducing violent crime in the center of Charlotte. CMPD Major Brett Balamucki said the department has been working with partners to reduce violent crimes around the Transit Center, the Spectrum Center and parking garages.

“You know, the Central Division met with those community partners and people who were vested into that along with the District Attorney's office and, and came up with a strategy to be very, to really increase communication. They have results.”

CMPD said the operation resulted in a 36% decrease in violent crimes in those specific parts of uptown in 2023.

Here are some other key stats:

• 8,032 cars were reported stolen, more than double the total in 2022.
• There were 95 homicides reported, vs. 107 in 2022. 
• CMPD made 15,343 arrests, up 12%.
• Fatal overdoses rose 8%, to 211.