CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The group began a year ago with a mission: "We want to keep repeat offenders off our streets and out of our neighborhoods!!," their website reads.
CharMeckCourtWatch is a volunteer run effort to create accountability and transparency within an enormous justice system that's been repeatedly deemed underfunded. Members attend court, in CourtWatch t-shirts that help them announce their presence, and track what happens to serious, repeat offenders who are often in and out of jail.
"The person that had broken into my home had a rap sheet a mile along, so I thought, he’s out on the street doing this to other neighbors...and I don’t want him out on the street!" volunteer Teresa Gitomer told Newschannel 36. She was a victim of a home break-in in September.
Organizers Jackie and Marcus Philemon were also victims. "You don’t know anything about what's going on in the court system unless you are a part of the process," Marcus Philemon explained. "We realize we were not going to fix things overnight because they were not broken overnight...but it's not going away unless someone addresses it."
Members speak often about the "revolving door of justice," referring to criminals who are out on bond and commit more crimes. Philemon cites Cantrail Stanley as an example. The young man has been arrested more than a half dozen times for crimes that range from breaking and entering to assault with intent to kill. Philemon took interest in his case, he said, after a judge reduced his bond from $175,000 to $5,000.
"That’s information that needs to be passed along, because as the general public, you need to be furious about that situation," he said. It’s this revolving door, and it's sad, and this is the way—one way—that citizens can help."
The program first began last fall under the tutelage of officers in the Providence Division who regularly provide names of repeat offenders for CourtWatch volunteers to track. The program has recently been expanded within that Charlotte Mecklenburg Police area, and also into the South Division. Their system is now fully developed, and Philemon is now working with the Hickory Grove area as well. He hopes to expand into some of the other 13 divisions within CMPD in year 2.
"This is a marathon, not a sprint," he said. "What we've done is we've created a lot of good relationships."
Several Charlotte city council members follow their work, and the Philemons recently sat down with Mayor-elect Anthony Foxx. Adding volunteers is crucial to their efforts, because it means more court visits.
"Unfortunately there are plenty that meet our criteria, and there are only so many you can track," Philemon said.
He admits there are some people at the courthouse who've been cold to the volunteers, but others have welcomed their efforts. It's a slow battle. often riddled with the frustrating formalities of a court system that moves slowly.
Gitomer says despite the pace (Her first day of "court watching" ended abruptly when the case was continued.), she considers this a way to be a part of the solution. "
Go to charmeckcourtwatch.org to learn more.
