Alison Kuznitz
Charlotte News & Observer
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Police officials in Charlotte can no longer buy chemical agents, like those used last week during protests in uptown. The move came Monday night after a City Council vote, which removed money from the city’s budget for such equipment.
The 9-2 vote, coinciding with days of protests over the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, brings some change to how Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police officers can control and disperse crowds. And the decision tasks a Charlotte City Council committee with the responsibility of scrutinizing and adjusting how CMPD spends money and creates policy.
“For the allies, please know that we need you to keep the same energy tomorrow morning that you have displayed over the past few weeks,” said City Council member Braxton Winston, who introduced the funding maneuver to address heavy criticism aimed at CMPD officers who used chemical agents against largely peaceful protesters on June 2.
Winston has been active with the protests and he was arrested on Beatties Ford Road on May 29, the first night of protests in Charlotte, for failure to disperse. Winston acknowledged this “step alone is not good enough,” referencing systemic issues within police departments and racism in the United States.
“The people of Charlotte will be pushing forward with new models to keep our community safe,” Winston said. “We are not looking backwards. Our eye is on the horizon.”
Earlier Monday, the Charlotte for Black Futures coalition also urged the City Council to reallocate 5% of CMPD’s budget — on top of proposed increases — toward affordable housing, transportation and community health programs, among other initiatives. About 730 individuals and 28 local groups signed the list of demands, which also called for a task force on reparations for black residents in Charlotte.
Mayor Vi Lyles has condemned the June 2 incident, saying it was “one of those times that none of us can be proud of.” CMPD Chief Kerr Putney called footage of the incident, captured by alternative newspaper Queen City Nerve, “disturbing.”
City Budget Director Ryan Bergman said CMPD spent $103,000 on chemical agents this year.
That money could be better used to support community-based programs, says Tin Nguyen, an organizer with SEAC Village and local attorney. Nguyen has been involved in protests throughout Charlotte, on Beatties Ford Road, in uptown and in Myers Park in recent days.
“With all the money that’s left over, it can go to housing, it can go to health programs, it can go to education,” Nguyen said Monday afternoon, before the City Council vote. “By taking away (CMPD’s) instruments of brutality used on the protesters, it will be a slap on the wrist. But it is something that will show teeth, and it’s one step toward defunding the entire police department.”
Within the same vote Monday, City Council also approved a $2.55-billion budget for fiscal year 2021. Council members Ed Driggs and Tariq Bokari opposed Winston’s budget adjustment, describing it has a rash action that undermined the budget process and police morale.
Driggs said Wintston’s motion struck him as a “gratuitous dig at police.”
“I think this is a kind of hasty and rather small measure that has been conceived in the context of the current situation,” Driggs said. “I believe the changes that are needed are complex and large in scale.”
In the new budget, CMPD will receive about $290 million, or 40% of the city’s nearly $719 million general fund.
Other council members praised the change, though. The State Bureau of Investigation is now reviewing last Tuesday’s protest incident, where police officers deployed chemical agents agent peaceful protesters. Putney has said he’ll ask the court for permission to release police footage.
“It’s time to act. This is to build relationships — to show that there are policies, that there is accountability,” City Council member Renee Johnson said Monday night. “I think that this will enhance trust in the community.”
City Council member Dimple Ajmera said CMPD must be intentional about its purchases. She emphasized Monday’s vote was not meant to penalize police officers.
“Unless and until our response is improved, we will not be able to build trust with our residents,” Ajmera said. “And currently I see, our trust — we have a long way to go.”
Yet the local Fraternal Order of Police quickly rebuked the City Council’s vote as “dangerous” on social media, asking what options are now available for police officers as they protect businesses and homes during protests.
“Without their use, this city would be on fire, and injuries would be much greater,” the FOP said of chemical agents. “As rocks and explosives are hurled at them, what measures do the police in Charlotte now have to defend themselves and the preservation of life and property?”
Hours earlier, the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office — a separate law enforcement agency — had announced its deputies will no longer be allowed to use tear gas during protests or other law enforcement encounters, citing “tensions mounting between law enforcement and the communities they serve.