LOOKING FOR GUNFIRE IN CHARLOTTE?

GUNFIRE DETECTION SYSTEM ON THE AGENDA

Charlotte’s City Council meeting contains Agenda Item #24 “Gunfire Detection System” to spend $50,000 of Asset Forfeiture money on subscription for a “ShotSpotter wide-area acoustic gunfire detection system.”

Checking the company’s website, this would indicate about one square mile of coverage, though that is not indicated anywhere in Charlotte’s documents.

The funding request also doesn’t say where the devices would be mounted.  Would this be only in “uptown?”  High-crime areas?  Multiple devices are required to triangulate signals and locate gunshot sounds. 

The Council Agenda description states “The system then sends information to police including the geo-location of gunfire and retrievable time-stamped audio available for investigative and forensic analysis.” AND “The system helps police officers to link people, places, and events in real time and to immediately respond to a criminal act involving gunfire.”

Does this mean conversations will be captured and stored also?  There are examples of SpotShotter equipment capability to do this.  Before any consideration of purchase and use of such equipment, the CMPD should be submitting a proposal for use of the equipment beyond the collection and storage of data with retrieval capability.

Has there been any analysis of past, unreported gunshots that have led to injury or death?  What about felons caught later known to be getting away with shooting off guns which went unreported?  Here’s the thing:  while Chief Monroe continues to say that crime is down for years (until being forced this year to report a radical rise in the murder rate, aggravated assault, and other violent crimes), shots fired would not affect the crime rate he hangs his hat on.

Setting aside anecdotal reports where shooting into an occupied house may have been reported as property damage instead of something more accurate, or no report was made at all because no perpetrator could be found, “merely” shooting off a gun within city limits is a City Ordinance Violation, not violation of a State Law.

“Discharging a Firearm in City Limits” is certainly dangerous, and maybe that should be the focus of discussion.  Arguments that some people are reticent to report gunfire or just used to the sound are also troublesome, but again, a different discussion topic.  Is tying up officers to respond to calls when the likelihood of finding anything but spent shell casings a wise way to spend money?  Part of that answer is tied to the planned location of the devices.  Part is tied to the planned and authorized use (including potential voice recording). 

Chief Monroe should be able to answer questions about the Significant Event Log he won’t release and the murky results of Calls For Service requests.  But probably most of the time someone is actually under fire, witnessing a firefight, in danger from a gun, or has been hit or killed by a gun, there are 911 calls to alert police.

STILL NO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES FOR LICENSE PLATE READERS OR CELLEBRITE DEVICES

When considering yet another automated device to monitor the citizens of Charlotte based on helping the police, consider the promises by the CMPD that Automated License Plate Readers (ALPR’s or just LPR’s) would be used for crime prevention.

Once they had been discovered, there was a campaign to say the increase in use was attributed to the sudden reporting in license plate thefts because of DMV inspection requirements and efforts to keep crime down, but if you read this post, you’ll see that doesn’t make sense.  And now WFAE is reporting that the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office has two cars outfitted with the LPR’s just driving around looking for “scofflow(s) or other violation(s)” with the purpose of collecting unpaid taxes.  The story says that that in a week, 45 people were found that owed tax money on their car taxes and mentioned one BMW owner who owed $194, but doesn’t give an average or total. 

The story also doesn’t report the total cost of the LPR purchases, installation, maintenance, or database management.  It doesn’t mention how much it costs in salary for the Sheriff’s deputies or if they were previously responsible for looking for car tax money.  There’s a mention of warrants to be issued—which is confusing—but if that’s the way to collect tax money, wouldn’t it be better to start with a list of the biggest dollars owed and stop by those houses when in the area instead of randomly driving around parking lots?  People register their cars with addresses.

Back to the CMPD procedures:  Monroe said they would not be interested in keeping a database unless to monitor criminal activity.  With the Sheriff talking about issuing warrants for late car taxes, does that qualify?

If there were a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) available to the public to describe the use of the data collected, we may know.  However, the only SOP for CMPD’s mobile LPR’s is through a research foundation (again, see previous post) and there is no SOP whatsoever for CMPD’s new Stationary LPR’s mounted in Charlotte. 

CMPD refuses to say where they have placed these, though you can spot at least two in these locations:  S Caldwell St & 277 and at S Tryon St & Stonewall, downtown.  They’re in the open, as promised.  But there is still no transparency in how they’re being used (or where the rest of them are—but please write in when you see them and the locations will be passed along).

Since the greatest part of Mecklenburg County is made up of Charlotte, wouldn’t it make sense to share databases with the Sheriff?  It seems financially irresponsible not to.  On the other hand, CMPD promised they would only use the databases for crime prevention, such as theft of license plates and cars. 

While on the topic of SOP’s, there’s still no SOP for Cellebrite devices that have been in use for years but only discovered and exposed recently by citynewswatch.  These devices can download all data, pictures, text messages, and phone numbers, including deleted data, from thousands of mobile devices in under 1 ½ minutes.  There is still no SOP available at Charmeck.org at the CMPD SOP site to describe how the devices are used.  If they are used solely in a lab with a warrant, or in exigent circumstances, CMPD refused to say even when a larger news station took research from citynewswatch and asked CMPD for comment. 

ANALYSIS OF THE SPENDING

In summary, it would be great if there were a device to help officers hone in on gunshot victims very quickly, or to find people shooting before there were any victims.

City Council and CMPD need to analyze how this system would work in real practice before committing money to technology that sounds good on paper but may cause resources to be tied up and in reality keep law enforcement officers and lab resources from working on issues they could solve.  If officers collect shell casings from shooting sites they locate with shooters that have left, that ties up the lab and will likely not solve any crime.  If someone was shot or witnessed a shooting, they probably called 911 anyway.

Note:  WSOC-TV pointed out this gunshot spotter system City Council item in a story here which has some other information.

*** VOTE ***

Statewide run-off elections today.

Waka Flocka Flame in Charlotte

WHO IS SHOOTING UP CHARLOTTE’S STREETS? WHY ISN’T OUR “LOCAL PRESS” ASKING?

Citynewswatch has been curious along with any number of other people:  Jeff A. Taylor, formerly of MeckDeck.com, can’t help but ask “Who Shot Antonio Stukes?” once in a while.  Jeff is referring to the wild exchange of bullets between two groups of men on a sunny Charlotte afternoon last year.  (Find Jeff still blogging from GA at thefreelance.tumblr.com)

At the Car Stereo Warehouse on East Independence Boulevard, Antonio Stukes was shot in the shoulder.  Some accounts have Stukes and friends trying to rob rapper “Waka Flocka Flame” of his jewelry.  Glenn Counts of WCNC reported February 25^th, 2011: 

There is surveillance tape of the shootout, which could resolve the question of who shot first. The police have seen the video and so have the employees at the store, but the store won't release the video. The manager says he's been offered $5,000 for the video.

.  .  .

NewsChannel 36 spoke with the rapper's publicist after the shooting. She says the security team followed protocol and the security cameras from the audio store back up the team's story.

There’s a problem, though.  For some reason the press nor the CMPD would release the names, occupations or employers of the “security team” for the rapper.  See more below.

There’s another problem.  Later, District Attorney Andrew Murray dismissed the charges his team did file (against the man who got shot and some who were with him) saying there was no evidence to review.  There was a VIDEO TAPE.  There were witnesses.  There were an untold number of bullets flying around.

Apparently this is not a new kind of incident for Waka Flocka -–involvement in gun fights or walking away with no charges for him or his team.

Under the title “Rapper’s Guard Opens Fire in Atlanta Store,” in a March 5, 2010 article in www.privateofficer.com explains that Waka Flocka Flame, real name Juaqin Malphurs, “is a member of Gucci Mane’s 1017 Brick Squad.  His pseudonym alludes to the sound of cocking a semi-automatic pistol.”  At that time Flame’s unnamed “security guard” was detained, but it’s unknown what happened beyond detention.  The article states, “Shots were fired, though no one was hit, during an altercation between groups affiliated with local rappers Gucci Mane and Young Jeezy that closed Walter’s Clothing in downtown Atlanta for about 30 minutes.”  Poor Walter.  And all the citizens of Altanta who were in the vicinity.

It seems the NC Private Protective Services Board finally did something, though they won’t say why or what investigation went into it (details below).  When the rapper was set to appear in Charlotte March of this year, the NCPPSB sent Cease and Desist notices to Malphurs and two other previously unnamed men who must act as his “backup.” 

The letters finally reveal names of Tyquan Anthony Alexander and John Cornelius Askew.  The letters also clearly state that “This office has obtained evidence to indicate you have been engaging in the private protective services profession in North Carolina without having been properly licensed with the North Carolina Private Protective Services Board.”

Click to enlarge; three identical letters for Malphurs, Askew, & Alexander

DON’T ASK, DON’T TELL?

Why write this story now? Why not… The murder rate in Charlotte is off the chart this year and Chief Monroe is mum.  Crime rates—even as reported by Monroe—are up dramatically, and he still won’t release the Calls For Service which would be a better indicator of true crime rates.  There are more indicators of problems in the CMPD and efforts to suppress the information, so here is just one story that seems in line with the rest and has been on the back burner.  The over-the-top reaction from the state to asking for a few details about any possible relationship to CMPD personnel seems worthy of exploring.  Maybe there is none, but it would have been easy enough to say.  At least the names of the shooters involved are finally released.

Having the names on the cease and desist letters begs the question: if they have evidence why weren’t charges pursued?

The NCPPSB really doesn’t want to answer that question.

Citynewswatch has confirmed that Malphurs, Alexander and Askew were not licensed last year or this year in North Carolina or in Georgia as Private Protective Security Agents.  As a special nod to an undisclosed friend, they were neither then nor now employed by Atlanta PD. 

So far, there is no confirmation whether any of the men had a concealed weapons permit, although it seems unlikely since Malphurs has felonies on his record.  

Citynewswatch confirmed even if any of the men had a weapons permit of any kind in either state, they would not be legally allowed to cross state lines to act as Private Security without proper training and legal certification—which they definitely didn’t have.

You can see in this report by WCNC’s Diana Rugg that some Charlotte men, including Antonio Stukes who was shot, were arrested.  They were later released.  

LEGAL ACTIONS?

It’s obvious that the answers to the questions posed are known to law enforcement and the board involved.  If they weren’t, they could state they don’t know.  Also, surely there aren’t that many guys named “Waka Flocka” in the state database—or Juaquin Malphurs, for that matter.  The next search should go through CMPD records.  But what an awful waste of tax money to avoid a few truthful answers.

With guns, shootouts, some felons, no licenses, and other issues, it’s not surprising that someone might ask a few questions about why nobody was prosecuted for crimes.  The rather abrasive response from one guy with the information is somewhat surprising.  So is the fact that network media and the local paper don’t seem to have reported the answers.  Maybe they got the same response as below and stopped.   Maybe they could ask again because this is really strange.

Whether the intention is legal intimidation or not, it seems to border a line when someone is making a simple request for public records.  So, for the legal safety of the person requesting, the entire exchange is below with the hope for a clearer understanding… and the answers.

-----Original Message-----
From: (name removed)
To: ABonapart <ABonapart@ncdoj.gov>
Sent: Tue, Jul 10, 2012 6:36 pm
Subject: Re: Public Records Request, Cease Desist letter and related

Dear Mr. Bonapart,

Your response to me is unreasonable and not in accordance with the law:

1)  I am not required to provide you personal information about myself, including my address, etc... in order for you to fulfill a public records request.  You must give me the information--which is public, not belonging to you, but only in your current custody-- regardless.  If you feel it is necessary to do so, then you are free to check with legal counsel.  Your ongoing efforts to get more personal information about me are not permitted by law.  I hope I have made myself clear on this.  By law, as the guardian of the public documents, you are the person I am to contact.  

2)  I have not asked you to make photocopies so there is no "copying expense" to incur.  I was interested to see if you believe there to be such an enormous volume of pages of information relating any/all of the referenced men to members of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department that it would be overwhelming for yourself or your staff to explain/supply documentation that you may not accomplish it in under 20 pages.  If that is the case, it seems there is a real problem here and the Attorney General and SBI should be notified to investigate why the CMPD and Mecklenburg County DA did not pursue charges over a gun fight in the middle of the day in Charlotte.  Therefore, either way, please supply the information I have asked for with no further delay.

2)  Continued efforts by you, your department, or other public officials to cause delays of the release of this information, or any intimidation of me to have this information should not be a tactic taken on by my government.  

3)  To my knowledge, none of these men have or had at the time of the gun fight a valid Private Protective License.  Please verify.  Please also verify or correct if they worked for anyone who did and if their employers were noted on any police report.  This should be a one page issue I'm sure you know already.

4)  Did any of these men have licenses to carry guns at the time of the referenced shootout?  This is a very simple "yes" or "no" answer.

Again, thank you so much.  I hope this clears up any misconceptions you may have had about public records law.  If you are still unwilling to release the public records of which you are in possession, please inform your supervisor you are unwilling to do so by email and copy me on the email.  All of this time could have been spent on other government work and I hope this inane back and forth will come to a stop with delivery of the public information (as part of the definition of public records) I have asked for.

Thank you.

-----Original Message-----
From: Bonapart, Anthony <ABonapart@ncdoj.gov>
To: (name removed)

Sent: Tue, Jul 10, 2012 5:21 pm
Subject: RE: Public Records Request, Cease Desist letter and related

Hello,

Thank you for contacting the Private Protective Services Board with your Public Records request. 

I responded to your e-mail requesting additional information and advised you that the Board needed your name and address to process the request and prepare an invoice for the copies.  Since you are unable or unwilling to comply with this request, please address all future communications and requests to the Board’s Legal Counsel.  His name and address is:  Jeffrey P. Gray, Bailey & Dixon, LLP, Post Office Box 1351, Raleigh, NC 27601.

Anthony B. Bonapart

Deputy Director

North Carolina Department of Justice

Private Protective Services

Ph: (919) 788-5319 ext. 218

Fax: (919) 788-7145

abonapart@ncdoj.gov

From: (name removed)
Sent: Tuesday, July 10, 2012 1:02 PM
To: Bonapart, Anthony
Subject: Re: Public Records Request, Cease Desist letter and related

Dear Mr. Bonapart,

It has been over a week since I sent this last email and I wondered if it may have gotten lost with the holiday on the 4th: 

Are you stating to me that there are more than 17 pages of material that discuss a known relationship of these men with the members of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department?

I look forward to hearing from you today.  Thank you.

-----Original Message-----
From: (name removed)
To: ABonapart <ABonapart@ncdoj.gov>
Sent: Mon, Jul 2, 2012 10:06 pm
Subject: Re: Public Records Request, Cease Desist letter and related

Dear Mr. Bonapart,

Are you stating to me that there are more than 17 pages of material that discuss a known relationship of these men with the members of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department?

Thank you.

-----Original Message-----
From: Bonapart, Anthony <ABonapart@ncdoj.gov>
To: (name removed)
Sent: Mon, Jul 2, 2012 2:49 pm
Subject: RE: Public Records Request, Cease Desist letter and related

Hello (name removed),

Thank you for contacting the Private Protective Services Board with your Public Records Act request per Chapter 132 of the North Carolina General Statutes.  I emailed you three cease and desists documents related to the case.  You should note that the Board does provide the first twenty pages of documents provided pursuant to a public records request without charge.  After the first twenty pages, the Board charges five cents per page and charges for the postage required to mail the documents.  

You have requested emails related to this case and the process will be time consuming.  Once this has been completed and copies are made, the cost varies according to the number of documents.  We will need your full name and address in order to create the Bill.  After receiving your contact information, we will certainly provide the documents requested as promptly as possible. 

I look forward to hearing from you.

Anthony B. Bonapart

Deputy Director

North Carolina Department of Justice

Private Protective Services

Ph: (919) 788-5319 ext. 218

Fax: (919) 788-7145

abonapart@ncdoj.gov

From: (name removed)
Sent: Tuesday, June 26, 2012 2:26 PM
To: Bonapart, Anthony
Subject: Re: Public Records Request, Cease Desist letter and related

Dear Mr. Bonapart,

Thank you very much for the cease and desist letters you sent which also clearly state the men are licensed.  These two names (in addition to Malphurs) were not listed in any news report I found earlier.  There are no charges listed against them in the Mecklenburg County Sheriff Department warrant or arrest listing.  Also, Malphurs has a felony record and may be on probation.

The portion of my request I still want to clear up is this part, inclusive of Alexander and Askew (who had an expired security license):

Were any of these men licensed to carry a weapon at all, in NC or in other states?  If no, were weapons charges filed/prosecuted?

Do any of these men have any personal or professional connection you know of to Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department or any of its employees?

If you have basic emails that document the decision process and considerations that went into telling him not to bring a "security" team with him, I would like to see that/those.

Thank you so much.

-----Original Message-----
From: Bonapart, Anthony <ABonapart@ncdoj.gov>
To: (name removed)
Sent: Tue, Jun 26, 2012 12:25 pm
Subject: RE: Public Records Request, Cease Desist letter and related

Hello (name removed),

Please see attached cease and desists letters.

Anthony B. Bonapart

Deputy Director

North Carolina Department of Justice

Private Protective Services

Ph: (919) 788-5319 ext. 218

Fax: (919) 788-7145

abonapart@ncdoj.gov

From: (name removed)]
Sent: Wednesday, June 20, 2012 9:49 PM
To: Bonapart, Anthony
Subject: Public Records Request, Cease Desist letter and related

Dear Mr. Bonapart,

I understand that earlier this year, the State sent a cease and desist letter to the rapper/musician known as "Waka Flocka Flame" (Juaquin Malphurs) and his associates informing him not to bring armed security to NC when he performed, or some similar thing.  I suspect it may be related to the midday shootout that occurred in Charlotte, NC the prior year with his entourage.  

I would like a copy of that letter as well as any key correspondence that would answer these questions:

For Waka Flocka Flame, real name: Juaquin Malphurs, unnamed brother of Malphurs, and these other men involved in the shooting: Antonio Stukes, Xavier Hoover, David Bellamy, Antoine Washington, Berry Lawrence or Barry Lawrence and Andre Sellers:  

Were any of these men licensed or working for companies that have licenses to be private protection in North Carolina or any other state that you are aware of?  Were any of these men licensed to carry a weapon at all, in NC or in other states?  If no, were weapons charges filed/prosecuted?

Do any of these men have any personal or professional connection you know of to Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department or any of its employees?

If you have basic emails that document the decision process and considerations that went into telling him not to bring a "security" team with him, I would like to see that/those.

Thank you very much.