Full text of Charlotte police chief’s speech to Charlotte Rotary
Putney: Here’s what we need to do about Charlotte’s murder problem
On Dec. 10, 2019, just a day after Charlotte hit its 103rd homicide of the year, Charlotte Police Chief Kerr Putney delivered the following speech at Charlotte Rotary. A portion of this speech was excerpted in the Dec. 11, 2019, edition of the Charlotte Ledger, a 3x/week e-newsletter on local business news. Sign up for free here.
Where there is opportunity, there is hope. I want to talk to you about that today.
What we’re seeing as we talk about the number – people keep talking about the number: 103 homicides, which is higher than we’ve seen in quite a while. That’s 103 families that have been devastated. But where there is opportunity, there is hope.
Back in 1993, I was a rookie. We had over 120 homicides that year. It was record-breaking for Charlotte. It was a pretty dismal time. We had a crack cocaine epidemic, and people were killing each other for finances that they were getting from the distribution of crack cocaine.
Not the same this year. Since 1993, we’ve almost doubled in size as a city. That’s something to be proud of. There’s a lot of opportunity. What we see, though, is there is still a deficit when it comes to hope. As we go into this holiday season, I challenge you to think about those who are less fortunate. …
We see the downside of those who are broken and those whose spirits aren’t often lifted, and there’s a cycle. There’s a cycle.
The cycle I’m talking about today is the cycle that got us to 103. It’s a cycle of violence. We can talk about the trauma, we can talk about the issues in people’s family structures, we can talk about a whole host of things that contribute to that awful number. But what I can tell you, though, is there is hope if we don’t repeat what we did in 1993 into 1994. What do you think that is that we did? We lost focus.
Here’s what I’ll tell you – I like coming here because I make predictions, and y’all forget about them until they come true, and then I come back after a couple years and remind you. My prediction for 2020 is the homicide number will be less than it is in 2019. But I’ll tell you that is not success. That is not success.
The reason it went down in 1993 and the reason it will be down next year is not by anything we’ve done intentionally, so shame on us. But where there’s opportunity, there’s hope.
We have the opportunity this time to be intentional about changing those outcomes. A couple ways we can do it. One of which is making sure we are investing appropriately in youth. If there’s a carrot and stick, I’m the stick guy. I get that. I actually appreciate that. Sometimes, I like it a little too much.
The reason I embrace that is because there has to be accountability. I think I’ve learned that lesson multiple times, my parents will tell you, but especially here in Charlotte in 2016. People felt we as police in this profession weren’t held accountable enough. Therefore, a lot of things have happened in the last three short years. Many lessons I’ll take to my grave. I value them. We’ve tried to make the responsible reform you’ve seen us make as an organization.
We’ve been a lot more t-word – transparent – open and honest. But it can’t stop there. Our whole justice system has to face that same level of scrutiny. I know many judges and magistrates and prosecutors in the room might be uncomfortable when I start talking about this. But we’re better as an organization because we met this head on. It wasn’t easy. Our office was the tip of the spear.
There were two days of riots and about 8 ½ weeks of protests. They were called everything but a child of God, but they stood fast. For you. Because where there’s opportunity, there’s hope.
The opportunity today, though, is to be intentional about not repeating the past. Let’s not do what we did in 1994. We’re happy that the number was down. Everybody claimed credit. I predict in 2020, everybody will again, but I won’t. I keep saying I’m not satisfied until you divide that homicide number by zero. That’s what success looks like. …
When I came in and I was appointed in 2015, I had 3 priorities. Crime fighting. Even the last year, we did better than the year before. This year, in repeat violent crime arrests were up by almost 20%, 18% to be exact. The officers are still doing the work on the right people in the right way.
The other thing we’ve done is increase the number of illegal guns seized off the street, by 10%. Well over 1,600 illegal weapons have been taken off the street. … Those outcomes matter. That’s 1/1600th less opportunity for people to lose their lives over minor conflicts.
Breaking down the 103, I’ll tell you this. Every year, 10-15% are intimate partner violence situations. Also every year, ¾ to 80% know their offender. The vast majority of the time, you’re going to know who’s going to end your life when it comes to homicide. Don’t worry: I’ll give you an uplifting message here in a minute. I just want that to sink in.
[Yesterday] morning, there was a random act over in NoDa. Those kinds of situations are the ones that really, really, really hurt our detectives. There’s a personal element to it. People go “It can happen anywhere.” Truthfully, those kinds of things really can happen to anyone. That’s why we have to get serious.
I don’t know, but I’d be willing to bet – and 70% chance I’d be right – that whoever committed this, this was not their first violent criminal offense. Seventy percent of those people charged with homicide in this jurisdiction have committed violence in the past. Seven out of 10. Where there’s opportunity, there’s hope.
Right now, the city of Charlotte invests about a half million dollars, and the county has money as well that they’re investing, to make sure we do a few things that are pretty simple: if we teach kids to read and do math on grade level, by third grade, we can reduce that number of prison beds you have to build by one. It’s just that simple.
Lowering absenteeism. If the kids go to school, they’re much more likely to graduate. Increase those who graduate at a higher level. We did better overall this year in CMS. Much credit goes to them. We still have more work to do.
The other things, though – which is why I’m on the cover of newspapers and everybody’s talking to me so much – is you got to have equal accountability when we talk about those who continually, repeatedly commit violent crime.
About four years ago in a survey of Mecklenburg County, 74% said low-level, nonviolent offenders deserve a second chance. We took that to heart. Every year, roughly 400 young people get a second chance. We take the report, based on the low-level nonviolent crime they’ve committed, we don’t even present that case to the district attorney for prosecution.
We reach out to partners who teach them life skills to turn their life around. Ninety percent don’t recidivate. That’s the opportunity.
The hope is when you see what they do with their lives moving forward. Teach them how to resolve minor conflicts so you’re not talking about an escalation of violence. Small investments change lives.
The uplifting piece is this: We have an opportunity to really claim victory not in 2020 but in 2025 and 2030 and 2040 as a city and county. Are we going to invest the time and energy and effort and resources to do so? If we don’t, shame on us.
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