CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department released body camera footage Friday worn by officers during a SWAT operation that damaged a home in east Charlotte last summer. As previously reported by WCNC Charlotte, the residents said they had offered keys to police and were angry police used breaching tactics the damaged the home.
On July 11, 2020, CMPD's SWAT unit was sent to a home on Andora Drive to serve multiple warrants for the arrest of Trey McClendon. After several hours of attempting to contact McClendon inside the home, officers forced their way into the home before determining McClendon wasn't there. CMPD said officers believed McClendon, who had been arrested at the home previously, was back at the residence.
“Possible bad intel, the suspect could have gotten out of the house before," Captain Jonathan Thomas with CMPD's Special Operations Unit said during a CMPD news conference with reporters Friday. "Patrol officers may not have had the perimeter as tight as they thought upon the initial.”
The house was left unlivable as a result of the operation. Still, Thomas said department policy was not violated. Thomas said officers waited for hours before sending in gas, a robot, and SWAT inside.
“We spent several hours attempting verbal communication, PA system, anything – trying to track down phone numbers – anything we could do to get the person we believed inside outside the residence," Thomas explained.
An attorney for the residents said the family tried giving officers the keys to go check inside the house.
“They were ignoring the most important intel and that was the family," attorney Dominique Camm said. "The family was telling them nobody’s in there and we can prove to you nobody’s in there that should be part of the intelligence.”
You can more of CMPD's body camera video on their YouTube channel. Viewer discretion is advised as there may strong language used throughout the videos.
Thomas acknowledged officers had the key but explained they couldn't use them because of their policies regarding apprehending dangerous suspects.
“If you got to that door and take the time to use the key, you’re still exposed. We want to minimize exposure," Thomas explained.
Instead, as officers raided the home, out of view, Melina London's angry family stood behind a police line waiting to see a warrant, which they said CMPD didn't show them until after the fact.
"We didn't deserve this," London said. "This just isn't fair what happened to us."
"That was a very volatile time," Patterson said. "I was very concerned with community members because the houses were very close to each other. Regrettably, there was property damage to that residence. That was not what we set out to do, but we wanted to make sure that the outcome was the safest outcome for all of those involved. Based on all the information we had, we did what was most appropriate."
Former FBI agent M. Quentin Williams, an analyst who studies law enforcement interactions, says in a situation like this there are many factors to consider and the release of the body camera video can at least provide a level of transparency and try to build trust with the community.
“Considering the circumstances did law enforcement do what was reasonable and did they leave the place in a manner in which it was found," Williams said.
Watch additional body camera footage below. No profanity was observed in this video:
CMPD said SWAT officers were called to the home because of McClendon’s criminal history, which included multiple felony warrants for violent offenses such as assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill.
Rob Tufano, CMPD's director of public affairs, defended the department's actions.
"The violent criminal history is just obscene," Tufano said at the time. "No officer is just going to walk in with a set of keys."
RELATED: 'That's a disgrace' | Data shows CMPD SWAT team rarely serves search warrants in south Charlotte
CMPD Data: Where the SWAT team executes search warrants
When mapped and analyzed by WCNC Charlotte, six years' worth of CMPD data showed the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department regularly serve search warrants throughout Charlotte. However, when the data is filtered to show just search warrants served by the SWAT team are isolated, one area of town shows a dramatic lack of activity.
Of the 76 SWAT-assisted search warrants served since 2015, only one occurred in south Charlotte, according to gatered CMPD data.
"If I lived in Ballantyne or where new money is, they wouldn't have policed us that way," London said. "Treat us like you would treat Ballantyne. South Park. Treat us like those people. I'm over being treated like a second-class citizen."
CMPD records showed people are more likely to see the SWAT team serve a search warrant if they don't live in south Charlotte. This lack of data is commonly referred to as "the wedge."
"When you look at those numbers, you really have to go beyond the numbers and you have to ask the why," CMPD Deputy Chief Stella Patterson told WCNC Charlotte previously. "When we're doing search warrants it's typically for very violent offenses."
Patterson said the department only calls in the SWAT team in extreme cases. She said south Charlotte mostly experiences property crime.
The London family's attorney Dominique Camm has encouraged members of the Charlotte City Council to better monitor search warrants.
"They need to start keeping better track of the data and actually what happens when their searches go bad, when stuff isn't found, when evidence is suppressed," Camm said. "There are some cases that go under the radar that aren't as extreme as this case, but to actually get better, you have to learn and study and see where you made a mistake."
Camm said to make matters worse, the City of Charlotte still hasn't made a "reasonable" offer to cover the cost of the Londons' damaged belongings, including family heirlooms.
"The City of Charlotte has not made this family whole and they are still recovering from their displacement," Camm said in a statement Friday. "This 'learning incident' as Former Deputy Chief Estella Patterson put it, should not be forgotten by this city, and will never be forgotten by the London family."
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