Recommendations f/ City Manager (Charlotte: attorney, budget, work)

[anifani821]

Here is an email sent to residents today:


Charlotte City Manager Curt Walton provided the Mayor and City Council with a list of actions he and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department recommend to address rising crime. “The CMPD is taking a number of enforcement efforts to address crime and the perception of safety in Charlotte,” Walton wrote in his memo April 25, 2008 to the Council. “The primary challenge, however, is how to expand the capacity of the criminal justice system to deal with criminals once they are beyond the control of the CMPD. Re-arresting repeat offenders for the same crimes is as frustrating for the CMPD as it is for our citizens,” he wrote. For the full text of the Manager's memo, click*here -

*"<http://www.charmeck.org/NR/rdonlyres/eql27rascfgfh3ogy7xxgm6cisyu2v5u47ujkg2u22ngom6ain za5u23nprudbpav6ebcbkj47yf725aig6usb7h63c/Public+Safety+Recommendations.pdf>Public Safety Recommendations" -

or visit <http://www.cmpd.org>CMPD.org. The item is posted under the CMPD News section of the home page.

The recommendations were developed over the last several weeks both as part of the City budget process and to provide a more immediate response to crime issues. They include:

1. Expanding the number of electronic monitoring devices for repeat offenders.*
2. Providing funding for technology improvements in the District Attorney’s Office and the Trial Court Administrator’s Office.
3. Providing additional staffing to expand the capacity of the District Attorney’s Office.*
4. Expanding resources in the CMPD Crime Lab to address firearms identification workload, the backlog of latent fingerprints and the backlog of DNA analysis.
5. Expanding the number of telecommunicators in the 911 Communications Center.*
6. Developing options such as a property crimes court and other Kimme Report recommendations to determine the feasibility and impact of alternative methods of expediting the prosecution of property crimes.

In closing his memo, Walton wrote, “I make these recommendations to you knowing that most fall outside the City’s responsibility, but with the knowledge that the deficiencies these expenditures can address will greatly enhance the $200 million annual investment the citizens of Charlotte are making in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.”