‘Everything we do the public sees’: Charlotte-Mecklenburg police chief answers questions over alleged racist texts
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) - The Charlotte-Mecklenburg police chief sat down with WBTV on Wednesday covering a number of topics from training, recruiting and the alleged racist text message investigation.
On Wednesday, Oct. 28, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Estella Patterson sat down with WBTV to ask questions regarding the alleged racist and what comes next for the department.
The interview with Chief Patterson followed the recent fall out over alleged racist text among officers in a group message. The texts allegedly targeted Black drivers and who could pull over the most, according to a report by WBTV’s David Hodges.
Seven officers were allegedly involved in the alleged racist text message thread. As of this writing six officers have resigned and one is currently suspended.
“Everything we do the public sees and they have a right to see it because we’re public servants,” Chief Patterson said.
Right now the thing some people want to see most: the racist text messages that led to the resignation or suspension of seven Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officers.
WBTV asked if Charlotte-Mecklenburg police will release the text messages at any point.
“So we don’t know yet on that, because the investigation is active and I’ve asked our federal partners to take a look at it,” Chief Patterson said. “I certainly don’t want to compromise that investigation in any way. I did release what I can legally release. So, we don’t know at this time yet.”
Chief Patterson says she knows there is work to be done, and knows they have to regain the community’s trust. She also says it starts with doing an even deeper dive on everyone who sends in an application.
While the investigations continue, Chief Patterson says the department is already making changes into their recruitment and screening processes.
“I think we have to look more closely at the process itself. Make sure that our background checks ask more questions around is it bias? Just really focus on that since this is coming to light for us,” Patterson said.
Chief Patterson says the department also does a polygraph exam and goes through applicants’ social media, but feels it needs to be an even closer look. She explained the ongoing training for officers.
“More implicit bias training, more cultural competency training. That is something that I had coming up as a police officer with our agency,” Patterson said. “We do it on an annual basis, ethics training on an annual basis, but I think we could do some more implicit bias training.”
Chief Patterson says that training will also be beefed up thanks to community input.
“I’m going to be having a meeting with the NAACP, also Action NC, to talk about various things. They asked to have a meeting with me, and I’m happy to do that, and also to with other community groups,” Chief Patterson said. “I know right now the public wants questions, and they deserve questions. So I want them to be a part of some of the steps that we’re going to be taking moving forward. I want to hear from them what their recommendations are.”
With a new class of recruits set to graduate next month, Chief Patterson says she’s reminding them of their oath to protect and serve everyone in the city.
“There is no separation between your personal life and your professional life. The two always come together at some point,” Patterson said. “With these officers, it was a text string on their personal phones. That can be subpoenaed. That can be uncovered at any time. So you always want to make sure that your behavior is above board.”
The Department of Justice is investigating to see if there were any civil rights violations as a result of this text thread.
U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson says that will be a thorough investigation since some of the text messages and data span several years.
Below is a roundup of all our coverage of the exposed group chat.
- July 29: Charlotte police officer accused of running illegal search using Flock Safety
- Oct. 12: Racist texts from officers lead to internal Charlotte-Mecklenburg police investigation
- Oct. 15: Watch: Charlotte-Mecklenburg police address officer misconduct at crime stats briefing
- Oct. 15: ‘Deeply troubling’: 3 Charlotte officers resign over racist texts allegedly targeting Black residents
- Oct. 16: NAACP demands Charlotte police release officers’ names in racist text scandal
- Oct. 19: Charlotte police identify officers involved in racist text scandal
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