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As public safety finger-pointing continues, people keep dying

CMPD Chief Kerr Putney is now calling out the court system for letting violent, young people out of jail ahead of their trials with only ankle bracelets.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — With the number of murders on the rise, Charlotte's top law enforcement and elected leaders continue pointing fingers at each other.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney is now calling out the court system for letting violent, young people out of jail ahead of their trials with nothing more than ankle bracelets to track their whereabouts.

"There's no accountability. All you have is a monitor. If you commit another crime, at least I can tell you were there, so it's easier for us to build a case, it does not prevent you from continuing your criminality. That's our issue," Chief Putney said. 

"We need to hold these people who are willing to steal and use violence accountable and right now we have almost 400 young people on electronic monitoring," he added.

CMPD confirmed Friday officers have charged 15 people wearing ankle bracelets with new crimes linked to new crime scenes so far this year.

"Other areas in the system need the same light shown on them and if we did, we'd have equal accountability, so violent people who continue to be violent will be held accountable," the chief said.

Records show a teen, accused of shooting at multiple people, got out of jail free just Thursday night and is now under house arrest and electronic monitoring. A CMPD police report shows six people told police someone shot at them off WT Harris Boulevard last week. 

Police arrested Elijah Turay this week in connection with the crime. Among other things, they charged him with assault with a deadly weapon with the intent to kill. Less than 48 hours later, records show the 16-year-old walked out of jail without posting a money bond. 

A judge ordered him to electronic monitoring supervision and 24-hour house arrest, according to court records.

In the midst of the city's violent year, which has included police shootings and immigration concerns, the police chief is just the latest official to criticize another agency. 

Members of the city council have previously criticized the police department. The chief has fired back. Meanwhile, federal officials have criticized the sheriff. The sheriff recently fired back.

As the public safety finger-pointing continues, people keep dying. As of Friday morning, 57 lives have been lost to homicide this year, which is one shy of the number of people killed all of last year.

"This is the Charlotte way," Action NC Political Director Robert Dawkins said of the finger-pointing. "I think people are also playing politics."

The organization advocates for policy changes. While agencies say they're working on the problem, Dawkins said their actions would speak louder than words.

"They're all doing something," he said. "If all of these people sit at a table and came up with measurable evidence-based solutions, you wouldn't see the problem continuing the way it does."

As for the police chief's criticism of judges letting defendants out of jail with only electronic monitoring, a spokesperson for the 26th Judicial District said judges and magistrates always consider community safety and the likelihood a person will appear before setting conditions of release. 

That means the same considerations would have gone into Turay's case.

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