CHARLOTTE, N.C. — What’s becoming clearer in the days after the shootings of three children in the Hoskins area of Charlotte is there appears to be a lack of trust between that community and Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department officers, and it’s impacting the department’s ability to solve crimes.
Community members told WCNC Charlotte they feel neglected, in that CMPD officers aren’t around enough for them to feel protected.
Julia Knox has lived in the Hoskins neighborhood for 50 years. She said it should start with having a bigger police presence in the Hoskins community.
"We are an older neighborhood, and most of the people there are seniors, so we definitely are not outside shooting,” Knox said.
Knox said CMPD can’t find out who it is if they aren’t there.
“Nobody expects them to stay out there all day, just patrol the neighborhood a little bit," Knox said.
Knox said recently, it's been scary to live there.
“I’ve experienced the shooting on my street," Knox said. "I couldn’t move. I just froze up where I was so it is very scary.”
Eunice Payne, who has lived in Hoskins for eight years, feels the shootings are getting more frequent.
“I want to say the last three years or so it has just spiraled out of control,” Payne said.
Payne said when they happen, residents don't always see a police response.
"We would call, [tell them] somebody's shooting," Payne said. "We would see no police. I guess because maybe only one person called so they figured it was someone shooting off their gun.”
Payne feels the reason shouldn’t matter.
“I don’t care if it's just shooting in the air," Payne said. "If we call and say we hear gunshots, come just to make sure no one got hurt. This is 9' or 10 o'clock at night. Nobody is going to run out their house and see if anyone's laying on the ground anywhere.”
Knox said there have been times she’s felt disregarded, too.
"Somebody broke in my house, and I called, and I wasn’t a priority, and they sent a cop on a bicycle," Knox said. "So when you have experiences like that, how can you respect them? You just don't trust them, I know I don’t.”
Since the beginning of this year, CMPD’s crime map shows just within a mile of Hovis Road, there have been 69 assaults, 43 larcenies, and 26 other violent crimes.
Overall, CMPD Major Brian Foley said the jurisdiction has had over 100 gunshot wound cases this year.
"That’s an increase of 9% from this time last year,” Foley said.
Knox said she’s tired of it.
“I want to be able to stay at home and not be scared to death all the time,” Knox said.
CMPD Chief Johnny Jennings said he knows that trust needs to be restored in this community, and he's committed to improving it.
"We’re not going to rest until we can get as much trust as we possibly can in the community so we can solve these cases a lot quicker,” Jennings said.
Foley said the department already has plans to become more visible.
"Our officers will actually go out and instead of doing a roll call in the division office, will do it right there in the community right out in front of everybody,” Foley said.
“They are trying; they need to do better,” Payne said.
Payne said she'd welcome the visibility but wants to see officers embrace the community.
"We want to know for a fact that they're not going to come out here and just start harassing anybody and everybody," Payne said. "You come out here, observe. Get to know the people first.”
Foley said they don’t plan a show of force, but instead, a show of support.
"We want you to know that the officers are there to serve you,” Foley said.
Jennings said he’s seen the passion in this community, and that they all have the same interests in keeping the streets safe, and he is excited to now see how they can work together.