CMPD says overall crime is down to start the year

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police released their first quarter crime statistics on Thursday and say overall crime is down by 6% in Charlotte.

Notably, violent crime has dropped by 17% and property crime has dropped by 4% compared to the same time last year. Homicides fell by more than a third, to 20.

CMPD said officers recovered more than 900 firearms, which is up 15% compared to last year. CMPD Deputy Chief David Robinson said many of the guns recovered have different owners or are from different locations.

“Over half of them are stolen, stolen out of other jurisdictions or stolen out of this jurisdiction,” Robinson said. “I urge you, if you own a gun, if you carry a gun legally, lawfully, protect that firearm. It's unconscionable that we have over half the guns that we've seized just in the first quarter come from stolen property.”

Officials also noted that there has been an elevated amount of officer activity with over 43,000 interactions in the first quarter.

CMPD also credits a portion of the drop in crime to Operation CORE 13. The program strategically deployed officers to high crime areas in CMPD’s 13 divisions. CMPD Major Bret Balamucki says the program started in late 2024 and is working.

“Most importantly, we are seeing a reduction in violent crime incidents in these core 13 focus areas, which means lower victimization in the locations that have consistent high numbers,” Balamuckie said. Police also report a 60% reduction in violent crime in the Beatties Ford Road and LaSalle Street area compared to the same time last year.

CMPD also said the new Civilian Crash Investigation Unit has responded to more than 2,000 non-injury crashes and helped with 3,000 calls in the first quarter.

At the end of 2024, the department received 15 marked pickup trucks to help free sworn-in officers for higher priority calls.