MORE PROOF THE CRIME STATISTICS WERE REMOVED BY CHIEF MONROE

. . .  ALONG WITH FORMER PUBLIC AFFAIRS DIRECTOR JULIE HILL… POSITION NOW TAKEN OVER BY Rob Tufano, Captain Brian Cunningham, and possibly others—you know, as a cost-saving measure.

You can look back to this citynewswatch POSTING from October 9^th and read the documented year ½ of excuses from CMPD saying their web site was under construction, leaving Charlotte’s residents unable to access Calls for Service, Watch Commander Reports, Significant Event Logs, and more. 

Now citynewswatch has uncovered the original January, 2007 release from former Public Affairs Director for the CMPD Julie Hill, whom Chief Monroe fired when he arrived.  This is a shame, because based on this email, her plans and the open, interactive, customer-based method of handling dissemination of public information regarding the police to the public would have been great.

But the upgrades and even basic information have been permanently removed.  Years later, the department is still doing whatever is necessary to keep true crime data about what’s going on in Charlotte away from the public.  That is the choice—the demand—of Chief Rodney Monroe.  It is also the choice of his boss Walton to let him do it, and of Walton’s bosses, the Mayor and Council, to continue to let him serve as City Manager. 

Of course, there are elections.  But in between elections, please read about the implications of getting true and accurate data—and please write to elected leaders to demand it.  Addresses are to the right.

Read THIS STORY as a jumping off point to see why efforts to misrepresent real crime statistics are such an important issue.

It was the first in what have been six stories on crime statistics so far. 

Please consider writing to Charlotte’s City Manager Curt Walton, Police Chief Rodney Monroe, Mayor Foxx, and the City Council to tell them you want all the Call for Service, Calls for service, Significant Event Log, Correct Uniform Crime Reporting Numbers, as they relate directly to the numbers above, Internal Affairs reports, Minutes of the Civil Service Board, and Complete Police Department Budget available in a convenient way on line.  Right now, they are not available at all, with the exception of some portions of the Budget.

This needs to change.  We are entitled to this information and it’s essential for running the Police Department in a way that would be truly trustworthy.

From: Capt. Mike Adams

Sent: Tuesday, January 09, 2007 4:38 PM

To: (VARIOUS RECIPIENTS)

Subject: Redesigned CMPD Web Site & Notify Me Community Sign Up

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department is kicking off the new year (and the new district plan) with the launch of its redesigned Web site.  We launched the new site at noon – it’s a “soft launch” (internal promotion only) for a short time so you can see it and we can identify any links or information that needs to be changed.  The goal is to maintain the new site with the most up-to-date information and features to provide you and citizens with timely, accurate info and new services.  This is a new beginning, not an end so log on and browse around! When you find things that need to be fixed, just let me know. 

And if you think of new things we should add, we’d love to hear your ideas.

Now, when Internet users visit www.cmpd.org, they will find a much more user-friendly site with new services and features.  “It’s easier to use, there’s more information and it’s better looking,” said Police Chief Darrel Stephens. 

While many of the navigational options will be familiar to users, the redesign better organizes information and provides handy features like a drop-down menu with quick links to the most frequently-requested services.    In addition to reorganizing the site’s information, the newly redesigned site provides such new features as:

·         Calls for service – just log on to see what kinds of calls for service the department is working.  Because some calls to 911 do not require a police officer or the situation as initially reported turns out to be something else entirely, the system is on a 30-minute delay.  Then, calls for service throughout CMPD’s jurisdiction are posted.  You can see all calls, sort by division and see calls going back up to 8 hours.  “We get calls from neighbors and reporters asking what’s going on,” said Major Marc DeLuca who oversaw the project. “Now, everyone can see basic information about why police officers are at a particular location.” The detail goes down to block ranges.

·         Videos – Crime prevention, CMPD Today episodes and more with the click of a mouse

·         “Notify Me” subscription service – get information sent to you automatically, including a pilot project with the South Division to provide alerts and other division-level information to subscribers

·         News – the latest news and information – no need to wait for a TV newscast!

And there’s more!  Take a look around, let us know what you think!

The redesign was done using in-house resources in Corporate Communications and CMPD.

Julie Hill

Public Affairs Office