At the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department's end-of-the-year crime report Thursday, department leaders said overall crime was down but homicides in Charlotte increased by 25%.
In 2024, CMPD launched a program to monitor at-risk juveniles throughout the Charlotte area by providing resources, at-home visits and education for families with juvenile offenders. Chief Johnny Jennings said officers being involved with families helps reduce the chance of repeat offenders.
"It's a cycle. If you can break that cycle — and like I've always mentioned too, that it's not just breaking the cycle of that young person, but it's breaking the cycle of maybe his kids, or her kids, and his grandkids or her grandkids — we think the impact is more beneficial when you are able to to divert a young person from a life of crime," he said.
Last year, there were over 4,700 juveniles listed as suspects in crimes CMPD investigated, a 9% decrease compared to 2023.
Here are some other highlights from the end-of-year statistics:
- All violent crimes: 7,413 offenses in 2024, up 3%.
- Homicides: 111 in 2024, up 25%.
- All property crimes: 36,966, down 4%.
- Vehicle thefts: 7,445, down 8%.
“I’m proud of the men and women who worked so hard to lower crime across the city, but also for the way they came together during our worst day on April 29 after losing four officers including one of our own, Officer Joshua Eyer, in the line of duty,” said Jennings. “We learned a lot about each other in 2024. We are a close group and a resourceful one. Each day, our officers are out trying to make the community safer, and the data shows they are doing an excellent job providing the type of service our neighborhoods need.”
CMPD is also studying another way to respond to crimes more quickly: Drones.
The program, called "Drone as First Responder," would send drones to respond to active scenes before officers arrive. CMPD currently operates a human-controlled helicopter, which is expensive to fly, noisy and can only be in one place at a time. Numerous drones could send back critical video and other real-time information about the scene, officials said, providing more details about what's happening. They'll study the idea in the coming months.
Drones have been helpful to other law enforcement agencies across the country like in Las Vegas and Oklahoma City, Jennings said. While drones can be a privacy concern for residents, he said those departments have policies similar to those for a patrol car responding to a call, or anyone in public.
"They have policies and and procedures in place that ensure that these drones are not looking in the houses, they're not looking in the residential areas, and that they're simply going to that call for service, and, and responding to that call for service no different than if you're driving a police car going there," he said.
