1 00:00:04,879 --> 00:00:05,599 Speaker 1: What's going on. 2 00:00:05,759 --> 00:00:08,119 Speaker 2: Thank you so much for listening to this podcast. It 3 00:00:08,240 --> 00:00:10,080 is heard live every day from noon to three on 4 00:00:10,240 --> 00:00:13,839 WBT Radio in Charlotte. And if you want exclusive content 5 00:00:14,000 --> 00:00:17,160 like invitations to events, the weekly live stream, my daily 6 00:00:17,199 --> 00:00:19,480 show prep with all the links, become a patron, go 7 00:00:19,559 --> 00:00:23,399 to dpeakclendershow dot com. Make sure you hit the subscribe button. 8 00:00:23,440 --> 00:00:26,320 Get every episode for free right to your smartphone or tablet, 9 00:00:26,359 --> 00:00:28,320 and again, thank you so much for your support. 10 00:00:29,640 --> 00:00:33,799 Speaker 1: So they made the big announcement Friday. 11 00:00:34,399 --> 00:00:37,320 Speaker 2: I was right at the end of my program where 12 00:00:37,799 --> 00:00:43,679 the City of Charlotte announced that after a month's long search, 13 00:00:44,479 --> 00:00:50,399 a national search, they have arrived at their preferred candidate 14 00:00:50,600 --> 00:00:55,600 for the chief of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department, and 15 00:00:56,920 --> 00:01:03,439 it is Estella Patterson. I will refrain from making any 16 00:01:03,479 --> 00:01:10,000 Stella references during her tenure. That's my commitment. Okay, it's 17 00:01:10,120 --> 00:01:13,920 such low hanging fruit that I will forego it. 18 00:01:14,239 --> 00:01:14,599 Speaker 1: Okay. 19 00:01:15,840 --> 00:01:19,319 Speaker 2: I wish her the best of luck. I want her 20 00:01:19,439 --> 00:01:23,560 to be successful in her stated aims that she just 21 00:01:23,680 --> 00:01:26,799 laid out in a press conference where they actually allowed 22 00:01:26,920 --> 00:01:29,920 the press to ask questions. That's kind of crazy for 23 00:01:29,959 --> 00:01:33,159 the city of Charlotte. Usually they like to just make 24 00:01:33,159 --> 00:01:37,200 their statements and then peel everybody off. So this way 25 00:01:37,319 --> 00:01:40,120 all the reporters can't like all gang up on one person. 26 00:01:40,200 --> 00:01:43,120 They can't feed off each other for questions and follow 27 00:01:43,200 --> 00:01:45,959 ups and stuff. They have you go and you know, 28 00:01:46,040 --> 00:01:49,439 pull one or two candidates or council members or city 29 00:01:49,439 --> 00:01:52,519 officials aside for a quick one on one maybe ask 30 00:01:52,599 --> 00:01:55,359 one or two questions, and then and then they shuffle 31 00:01:55,400 --> 00:01:56,040 everybody out. 32 00:01:56,439 --> 00:01:59,680 Speaker 1: They actually allowed I think it. 33 00:01:59,599 --> 00:02:04,599 Speaker 2: Was a about five questions, so it's look, hey, it's 34 00:02:04,719 --> 00:02:09,879 progress here people. They did call a lid. They only 35 00:02:09,919 --> 00:02:11,599 had the room for half an hour. I mean, they're 36 00:02:11,639 --> 00:02:13,400 not using the room for anything else, but they only 37 00:02:13,439 --> 00:02:17,479 had the room for half an hour, and so they 38 00:02:17,520 --> 00:02:19,639 had to you know, first we had to hear from 39 00:02:19,680 --> 00:02:22,560 the city manager, Marcus Jones, where he said, we need 40 00:02:22,599 --> 00:02:27,159 to address security in this city, the perception and the reality. 41 00:02:27,199 --> 00:02:29,400 By the way, this is the preferred narrative that the 42 00:02:29,439 --> 00:02:34,280 City of Charlotte is going with that the crime is 43 00:02:34,360 --> 00:02:37,800 down by the stats if you believe the stats. And 44 00:02:37,879 --> 00:02:41,439 I don't say that because I'm accusing anybody of juicing 45 00:02:41,479 --> 00:02:44,400 the stats or juking the stats. Whatever, the term is. 46 00:02:45,039 --> 00:02:48,000 I'm not accusing people of lying about the stats. I 47 00:02:48,039 --> 00:02:55,840 have no evidence to support that. However, there are factors 48 00:02:56,759 --> 00:03:00,520 when it comes to the collection of crime data. There 49 00:03:00,560 --> 00:03:04,840 are factors that influence the collection of said data. For example, 50 00:03:05,240 --> 00:03:08,840 if if I am victimized and then I call police 51 00:03:09,199 --> 00:03:11,319 and it takes, you know, an hour and a half 52 00:03:11,400 --> 00:03:15,800 for an officer to show up, and then nothing ever 53 00:03:15,840 --> 00:03:16,280 comes of it. 54 00:03:16,319 --> 00:03:20,759 Speaker 1: They make no arrests, and that's it. Well, the next. 55 00:03:20,520 --> 00:03:23,479 Speaker 2: Time I am victimized, like somebody you know, broke into 56 00:03:23,560 --> 00:03:26,360 my truck and they stole my tools, I file a 57 00:03:26,400 --> 00:03:30,439 police report, nothing happens. Somebody then breaks into my truck. 58 00:03:30,439 --> 00:03:35,680 A year later, I call the police, I file a report, 59 00:03:35,879 --> 00:03:41,199 nothing ever happens. At some point, I'm gonna stop calling police. 60 00:03:41,319 --> 00:03:44,319 And this occurs on all sorts of fronts. Right, people 61 00:03:44,599 --> 00:03:48,439 walking around uptown are not calling police, you know, reporting 62 00:03:48,479 --> 00:03:52,400 every negative interaction that they're having with vagrants and satch. 63 00:03:52,439 --> 00:03:55,159 It's just not happening, right, So that is a factor. 64 00:03:56,000 --> 00:03:59,240 There are other cities where we know that there have 65 00:03:59,360 --> 00:04:03,479 been efforts by command staff, and again I have no 66 00:04:03,520 --> 00:04:07,280 evidence of this in Charlotte, but this has occurred in 67 00:04:07,319 --> 00:04:14,280 other jurisdictions where they have been classifying crimes to a 68 00:04:14,400 --> 00:04:18,199 lower level. So they'll say, you know something that would 69 00:04:18,240 --> 00:04:21,839 have classified or should classify as a violent crime, and 70 00:04:21,839 --> 00:04:27,040 they'll classify it as a lower nonviolent offense or some 71 00:04:27,160 --> 00:04:30,680 other charge, and this way it takes it off of 72 00:04:30,720 --> 00:04:34,279 the violent crime data. Point Again, I'm not saying that's 73 00:04:34,279 --> 00:04:36,079 happening in Charlotte. I want to be clear about that. 74 00:04:37,000 --> 00:04:39,800 People hear things that I don't say, and so I 75 00:04:39,879 --> 00:04:42,720 am not saying that there's any evidence that that's been 76 00:04:42,720 --> 00:04:45,480 occurring at Charlotte. I've not heard any reports of anything 77 00:04:45,519 --> 00:04:49,279 like that. So they keep the City of Charlotte keeps 78 00:04:49,279 --> 00:04:53,079 talking though about the crime being down. I think the 79 00:04:53,879 --> 00:04:58,079 number was eight percent. Overall crime is down like eight percent, 80 00:04:58,199 --> 00:05:01,800 violent crime down like twenty percent. I did hear Brett 81 00:05:01,839 --> 00:05:05,839 Jensen from WBT. He was at the press conference, and 82 00:05:06,079 --> 00:05:07,959 I think he got the last question in and he 83 00:05:08,000 --> 00:05:13,879 pointed out that in Uptown the homicide rate is up 84 00:05:13,959 --> 00:05:19,240 twenty percent. And she said the new police chief of 85 00:05:19,240 --> 00:05:22,160 Stella Patterson, she said, well, yeah, there are you know, 86 00:05:22,279 --> 00:05:27,360 pockets and you know areas and zones where crime is spiking, 87 00:05:27,480 --> 00:05:30,079 and so you have to you know, address those zones, 88 00:05:31,000 --> 00:05:35,839 which is what you know I would expect her to say. 89 00:05:36,000 --> 00:05:38,519 Marcus Jones said that, Oh, but the whole point to 90 00:05:38,519 --> 00:05:41,839 that is that you heard this line about perception of 91 00:05:41,920 --> 00:05:46,120 crime perception of safety. And I have said from the 92 00:05:46,160 --> 00:05:51,079 beginning when people in city government and police departments, when 93 00:05:51,680 --> 00:05:54,240 when they use this phrase, it is a form of 94 00:05:54,319 --> 00:06:01,519 gas lighting. They're telling us that our person perception is erroneous. 95 00:06:01,560 --> 00:06:05,240 They're not telling us that we're wrong, because how could 96 00:06:05,240 --> 00:06:07,279 they tell us that we're wrong. It's sort of like 97 00:06:07,319 --> 00:06:10,720 the people who say, well, you know it's colder outside 98 00:06:10,720 --> 00:06:13,680 than you think, Well, how would you know how cold 99 00:06:13,720 --> 00:06:17,279 I think it is? Or hey, you're lining up that putt, 100 00:06:18,120 --> 00:06:21,560 it looks longer or it's longer than you think it is. 101 00:06:22,279 --> 00:06:24,000 How do you know how long I think that putt is? 102 00:06:24,800 --> 00:06:25,000 Speaker 1: Right? 103 00:06:26,160 --> 00:06:28,560 Speaker 2: It's the same thing with this line about the perception. 104 00:06:28,839 --> 00:06:33,959 It's a way of saying your perception of crime is incorrect, 105 00:06:34,560 --> 00:06:37,439 that you think crime is here and it's actually way 106 00:06:37,480 --> 00:06:45,240 down here, and so you're wrong. And it's the only way, 107 00:06:45,439 --> 00:06:50,079 it's the only way they can address these concerns without, 108 00:06:50,160 --> 00:06:55,639 you know, accepting responsibility that they have for the impact 109 00:06:55,680 --> 00:07:00,839 of in Mechlimer County Democrat policies predominantly Demoic policies. Now 110 00:07:00,839 --> 00:07:03,240 there are policies at the state level. I went over 111 00:07:03,319 --> 00:07:07,079 last week to raise the age law and the ruin 112 00:07:08,279 --> 00:07:10,879 that has been left in its wake, not just in 113 00:07:11,120 --> 00:07:15,720 North Carolina but all around the country. And you've now 114 00:07:16,639 --> 00:07:20,040 sentenced these I mean not in courts, because we don't 115 00:07:20,079 --> 00:07:23,360 do that to juveniles, but like you basically set these 116 00:07:23,439 --> 00:07:28,759 youths on a lifelong path of criminality by not cracking 117 00:07:28,800 --> 00:07:31,800 down on them early, not getting them off of that 118 00:07:32,240 --> 00:07:36,839 career path, You've now increased the likelihood that they will 119 00:07:36,839 --> 00:07:41,000 stay on that career path. So that's the Republican legislature 120 00:07:41,040 --> 00:07:42,800 did that to raise the age law. I mean, it 121 00:07:42,839 --> 00:07:45,360 was bipartisan, everybody voted for it, and it was part 122 00:07:45,399 --> 00:07:48,399 of the quote reforms that swept the country over the 123 00:07:48,439 --> 00:07:49,920 last six years. 124 00:07:51,240 --> 00:07:51,839 Speaker 1: So there's that. 125 00:07:52,839 --> 00:07:58,439 Speaker 2: Marcus Jones, the city manager, also highlighted Chief Patterson's ability 126 00:07:58,480 --> 00:08:02,759 to communicate that was clear when and I've got her statement, 127 00:08:03,120 --> 00:08:04,720 I'll play it for you here. They just did a 128 00:08:04,720 --> 00:08:07,079 press conference. It started at eleven thirty and it just 129 00:08:07,079 --> 00:08:09,319 wrapped up before I got on the air. So I 130 00:08:09,399 --> 00:08:12,800 just pulled a couple of Oh, I pulled her opening statement. 131 00:08:12,839 --> 00:08:18,680 I will not subject you to the mayor's ugh, just 132 00:08:18,720 --> 00:08:21,800 read the script, VIY, just stay on the script anyway, 133 00:08:23,319 --> 00:08:26,600 she said. The chief said, she's very happy to be 134 00:08:26,680 --> 00:08:30,079 home because she worked for Charlotte Meckleburg Police for twenty 135 00:08:30,079 --> 00:08:32,120 five years. She worked her way up through the ranks. 136 00:08:32,559 --> 00:08:34,799 She then went to Raleigh and was their police chief 137 00:08:35,440 --> 00:08:38,919 at a time when homicides increased. She was there for 138 00:08:38,960 --> 00:08:44,320 three and a half years, and now she's back during 139 00:08:44,320 --> 00:08:47,840 the break here. I will check, but I don't believe 140 00:08:48,039 --> 00:08:57,159 anybody asked anybody at that podium about her husband. Her 141 00:08:57,240 --> 00:09:01,399 husband is a longtime fire department official, fire official, and 142 00:09:02,600 --> 00:09:08,679 he sued the city and they just settled it. Yeah, 143 00:09:08,679 --> 00:09:11,559 because that's what Charlotte needs right now. Is another one 144 00:09:11,559 --> 00:09:14,399 of these settlements. Now, this one was in the court system, 145 00:09:14,440 --> 00:09:17,000 so it wasn't a city council thing in closed session, 146 00:09:17,279 --> 00:09:19,639 so we got that going for us. But I have 147 00:09:19,759 --> 00:09:22,759 those details as well, but I'm not sure that came 148 00:09:22,840 --> 00:09:25,240 up in the press conference. Like I said, I'll go 149 00:09:25,279 --> 00:09:27,639 back and double check here, but I listened to all 150 00:09:27,679 --> 00:09:30,840 but about two minutes of it, and I don't think. 151 00:09:30,639 --> 00:09:31,320 Speaker 1: That was raised. 152 00:09:32,039 --> 00:09:34,759 Speaker 2: Here's a great idea. How about making an escape to 153 00:09:34,799 --> 00:09:38,279 a really special and secluded getaway in western North Carolina. 154 00:09:38,399 --> 00:09:40,559 Just a quick drive up the mountain and Cabins of 155 00:09:40,600 --> 00:09:44,960 Asheville is your connection. Whether you're celebrating an anniversary, a honeymoon, 156 00:09:45,000 --> 00:09:47,240 maybe you want to plan a memorable proposal, or get 157 00:09:47,279 --> 00:09:50,159 family and friends together for a big old reunion. 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And there was a 177 00:11:00,240 --> 00:11:03,519 question during the press conference about what does it mean 178 00:11:03,559 --> 00:11:07,159 to be the first woman? So she's the first woman 179 00:11:07,360 --> 00:11:12,799 police chief, so it's historic. Okay, great, now we've got 180 00:11:12,840 --> 00:11:14,559 that out of the way. Now we can actually just 181 00:11:14,720 --> 00:11:19,600 like talk about, you know, the job here. Her bio 182 00:11:20,480 --> 00:11:24,200 is impressive. She holds a bachelor's in political science from 183 00:11:24,320 --> 00:11:29,759 University of North Carolina Charlotte UNC Charlotte Masters and criminal 184 00:11:29,879 --> 00:11:33,639 justice from the University of Oklahoma. She was in the 185 00:11:33,720 --> 00:11:39,039 Charlotte Mecklinburgh Police Department starting in nineteen ninety six. She 186 00:11:39,200 --> 00:11:43,720 was a patrol officer, an instructor, internal affairs commander, Deputy 187 00:11:43,799 --> 00:11:51,960 Chief of Patrol Services. She and her husband, Lance Patterson 188 00:11:52,080 --> 00:11:57,559 adopted their two nephews whose fathers were incarcerated and raised 189 00:11:57,679 --> 00:12:02,559 the two boys through high school. One joined the US Army, 190 00:12:02,600 --> 00:12:11,080 the other the Air Force. Estella Patterson again recruited in 191 00:12:11,159 --> 00:12:14,200 nineteen ninety six. She was the class president of her 192 00:12:14,240 --> 00:12:19,000 recruit class. She served numerous roles in her twenty five years. 193 00:12:20,320 --> 00:12:22,919 She spent time at the academy as an instructor and 194 00:12:23,000 --> 00:12:27,159 in recruitment. She spent time, as I mentioned, in internal affairs, 195 00:12:28,720 --> 00:12:31,759 and as the Deputy Chief over Administrative Services and then 196 00:12:31,799 --> 00:12:34,759 Deputy Chief over Patrol Services. She was a member of 197 00:12:34,799 --> 00:12:37,759 the US Army Reserve from nineteen ninety six through two 198 00:12:37,799 --> 00:12:43,720 thousand and five, served combat tours in Kosovo and Iraq twice, 199 00:12:43,759 --> 00:12:47,879 receiving the Army Commendation Medal for meritorious service and reaching 200 00:12:47,919 --> 00:12:50,879 the rank of captain. She's also a graduate of the 201 00:12:50,960 --> 00:12:57,519 FBI National Academy, and then, of course, she went to Raleigh. 202 00:12:58,360 --> 00:13:01,279 She was the chief of the Raleigh Police Department from 203 00:13:01,360 --> 00:13:05,000 August twenty twenty one through March of twenty twenty five. 204 00:13:05,360 --> 00:13:08,080 It's about three and a half years. During her time 205 00:13:08,159 --> 00:13:12,759 in Raleigh, she oversaw significant changes with the RPD, including 206 00:13:12,879 --> 00:13:17,480 instituting a recruitment and hiring plan that made substantial progress 207 00:13:17,799 --> 00:13:21,279 in reducing the department's vacancy rate from one hundred and 208 00:13:21,320 --> 00:13:26,000 fifty down to forty in three years, as well as 209 00:13:26,039 --> 00:13:30,000 the creation of the Raleigh Police Foundation, which raised four 210 00:13:30,039 --> 00:13:34,519 million dollars in two years to fund special projects to 211 00:13:34,679 --> 00:13:39,840 bolster employee morale. Additionally, she led her team in reducing 212 00:13:39,960 --> 00:13:44,000 violent crime, achieving a one hundred percent clearance rate of 213 00:13:44,080 --> 00:13:51,240 homicides in twenty twenty four. That's according to the Charlotte 214 00:13:51,519 --> 00:13:56,000 Government website press release as well as the Charlotte Observer. 215 00:13:58,080 --> 00:14:00,159 This is from the Observer story by Evan Moore Or. 216 00:14:00,559 --> 00:14:03,399 She pushed for a fifteen percent pay increase to help 217 00:14:03,440 --> 00:14:07,799 fill the vacancies. She also helped secure federal grants to 218 00:14:07,879 --> 00:14:12,320 build an intelligence management system and oversaw expansion of a 219 00:14:12,399 --> 00:14:16,360 real time crime center with hundreds of cameras to identify 220 00:14:16,399 --> 00:14:24,120 trouble spots more quickly. Now like I said, she joined 221 00:14:24,519 --> 00:14:27,679 RPD as the chief in twenty twenty one. August of 222 00:14:27,679 --> 00:14:31,759 twenty twenty one, the city saw its highest number of 223 00:14:31,799 --> 00:14:38,080 homicides in nearly three decades. In twenty twenty two. She 224 00:14:38,679 --> 00:14:43,759 then flagged Newbern Avenue in Raleigh for high incident rates 225 00:14:43,799 --> 00:14:48,679 of gun violence and championed a community violence intervention initiative 226 00:14:48,720 --> 00:14:54,080 as a long term solution, and under her tenure, RPD 227 00:14:54,240 --> 00:14:56,600 was chosen a partner with the US Department of Justice 228 00:14:56,600 --> 00:14:58,960 for a three year effort to reduce crime in the city. 229 00:14:59,480 --> 00:15:03,679 And so, looking at the crime stats for Raleigh from 230 00:15:03,720 --> 00:15:08,200 citydata dot Com, I went and pulled the Raleigh data. 231 00:15:08,240 --> 00:15:11,039 I would have compared it, but for some reason, Charlotte 232 00:15:11,080 --> 00:15:13,480 doesn't report their numbers. I guess, so they don't get 233 00:15:13,879 --> 00:15:17,080 they don't get the crime report for citydata dot Com 234 00:15:17,120 --> 00:15:19,039 all of the other cities in North Carolina, and it 235 00:15:19,080 --> 00:15:25,159 appears are there but not Charlotte. So before she got there, 236 00:15:26,559 --> 00:15:31,879 there were generally speaking, well, if you go back to 237 00:15:31,919 --> 00:15:34,480 twenty eleven, and I'm going to run just through these 238 00:15:34,600 --> 00:15:38,000 numbers for the years that they have the data, because 239 00:15:38,039 --> 00:15:41,399 there's like two years, there's twenty fifteen, twenty sixteen, twenty 240 00:15:41,440 --> 00:15:43,879 seventeen that they don't have data these three years actually, 241 00:15:44,720 --> 00:15:48,559 and then in twenty eighteen they reported zero homicides, which 242 00:15:48,639 --> 00:15:50,559 I find that hard to believe. So I think there 243 00:15:50,600 --> 00:15:54,200 was something going on with the data set. But Raleigh 244 00:15:54,279 --> 00:15:59,960 was typically seeing about seventeen murders back in twenty eleven, 245 00:16:00,240 --> 00:16:04,600 seventeen seventeen, then twelve, then eight, and then it went 246 00:16:04,679 --> 00:16:08,519 up to twenty in twenty nineteen. In twenty twenty two 247 00:16:09,120 --> 00:16:12,200 it went up to twenty two or sorry, that was 248 00:16:12,200 --> 00:16:15,559 twenty twenty went up to twenty two. The next year 249 00:16:15,679 --> 00:16:19,320 when she arrived, there were twenty six twenty twenty two, 250 00:16:19,440 --> 00:16:23,679 then there were forty four, and then it started coming 251 00:16:23,720 --> 00:16:27,159 back down twenty three. In twenty twenty three there was 252 00:16:27,320 --> 00:16:30,840 twenty eight homicides, and in twenty twenty four there were 253 00:16:30,879 --> 00:16:35,000 twenty five homicides. Charlotte has way more than this, Okay, 254 00:16:38,679 --> 00:16:41,039 But if you're going to say that, you know the 255 00:16:41,039 --> 00:16:43,559 homicide rate went up under her tenure. It did in 256 00:16:43,600 --> 00:16:47,200 the first year, but then it declined. And honestly, one 257 00:16:47,279 --> 00:16:50,200 hundred percent clearance rate, I would love to see that 258 00:16:50,240 --> 00:16:56,840 in Charlotte not asked at the press conference anything about 259 00:16:56,879 --> 00:17:00,519 the court system. She's the police chiefs, so she's not 260 00:17:00,559 --> 00:17:03,480 in charge of the court system. But I have to 261 00:17:03,519 --> 00:17:09,400 imagine the same problems with repeat, repeat, repeat offenders that 262 00:17:09,559 --> 00:17:12,400 Charlotte is suffering from, and a court system I call 263 00:17:12,440 --> 00:17:15,160 it a catch and release court system. I have to 264 00:17:15,200 --> 00:17:18,359 believe that they saw something similar in Wake County as 265 00:17:18,359 --> 00:17:20,720 well also Durham, So. 266 00:17:22,400 --> 00:17:23,240 Speaker 1: That was not asked. 267 00:17:23,319 --> 00:17:24,839 Speaker 2: Maybe they would have gotten around to it had they 268 00:17:24,880 --> 00:17:28,000 had more time to ask her more questions. You know, 269 00:17:28,119 --> 00:17:30,599 stories are powerful. They help us make sense of things, 270 00:17:30,640 --> 00:17:34,079 to understand experiences. Stories connect us to the people of 271 00:17:34,119 --> 00:17:37,440 our past while transcending generations. They help us process the 272 00:17:37,480 --> 00:17:40,920 meaning of life and art. Stories are told through images 273 00:17:40,960 --> 00:17:44,759 and videos. Preserve your stories with Creative Video. Started in 274 00:17:44,839 --> 00:17:47,680 nineteen ninety seven in Minhill, North Carolina. It was the 275 00:17:47,720 --> 00:17:51,680 first company to provide this valuable service, converting images, photos 276 00:17:51,680 --> 00:17:55,920 and videos into high quality produced slide shows, videos and albums. 277 00:17:56,119 --> 00:17:59,480 The trusted, talented and dedicated team at Creative Video will 278 00:17:59,480 --> 00:18:01,200 go over all all of the details with you to 279 00:18:01,279 --> 00:18:05,119 create a perfect project. Satisfaction guaranteed. Drop them off in 280 00:18:05,119 --> 00:18:06,920 person or mail them. They'll be ready in a week 281 00:18:07,000 --> 00:18:12,720 or two. Memorial videos for your loved ones, videos for rehearsal, dinners, weddings, graduations, Christmas, 282 00:18:12,839 --> 00:18:17,000 family vacations, birthdays, or just your family stories all told 283 00:18:17,039 --> 00:18:20,759 through images. That's what your photos and videos are. They 284 00:18:20,759 --> 00:18:23,599 are your life told through the eyes of everyone around 285 00:18:23,640 --> 00:18:25,920 you and all who came before you, and they will 286 00:18:25,920 --> 00:18:29,279 tell others to come. Who you are visit Creative video 287 00:18:29,519 --> 00:18:32,519 dot Com. All right, let me jump over here and 288 00:18:32,559 --> 00:18:33,319 talk to Michael. 289 00:18:33,480 --> 00:18:36,200 Speaker 3: Hello, Michael, Yes, how you doing? 290 00:18:36,400 --> 00:18:37,240 Speaker 1: Okay, what's up? 291 00:18:38,200 --> 00:18:40,920 Speaker 3: Yes, I was just wondering. I know that the Raleigh 292 00:18:40,960 --> 00:18:45,720 is a smaller community just population wise, and obviously the 293 00:18:46,279 --> 00:18:50,359 demographics there are a lot more of a research kind 294 00:18:50,359 --> 00:18:54,480 of base. I know that even uptown Rawley area that 295 00:18:54,559 --> 00:18:58,119 they're turning a lot of their vacant commercial space office 296 00:18:58,119 --> 00:19:03,599 space into research for Duke get it for Duke University 297 00:19:03,680 --> 00:19:07,799 and Chapel Hill and also I mean as a as 298 00:19:07,839 --> 00:19:12,599 obviously as an addict research for Chapel Hill, USC, Charlotte 299 00:19:12,599 --> 00:19:15,440 and also in the state. I also know that they 300 00:19:15,599 --> 00:19:21,079 also share some commonality between the three universities and so forth, 301 00:19:21,759 --> 00:19:23,880 and that there's a lot of a lot of growth 302 00:19:24,000 --> 00:19:27,200 on the outskirts of some of the other counties. How 303 00:19:27,359 --> 00:19:29,759 is how is the police chief? How is was she 304 00:19:30,000 --> 00:19:33,839 coordinating with some of the other towns in it around? 305 00:19:34,079 --> 00:19:37,440 You know, you brought up Durham, there's you know, obviously 306 00:19:37,480 --> 00:19:40,000 Chapel Hills another they had their own cop and then 307 00:19:40,039 --> 00:19:43,039 there's either was there for the West. There's a lot 308 00:19:43,119 --> 00:19:47,440 of people that commute into Raleigh that aren't actually in 309 00:19:47,440 --> 00:19:52,799 in Raleigh, but obviously the crying still commutes into obviously. 310 00:19:55,640 --> 00:19:59,079 Speaker 2: Okay, yeah, I like, yeah, Raleigh is a smaller jurisdiction 311 00:19:59,200 --> 00:20:03,000 than Charlotte, as Charlotte consolidated with Mecklenburg for the police 312 00:20:03,039 --> 00:20:07,400 services what forty years ago, and so it's a much 313 00:20:07,519 --> 00:20:13,799 larger jurisdiction CMPD covers versus Raleigh police. 314 00:20:15,960 --> 00:20:19,079 Speaker 3: Yes, yes, so, I mean I know that Durham has 315 00:20:19,079 --> 00:20:21,599 their own I mean, wake Forest has their own even 316 00:20:21,640 --> 00:20:24,240 within some of the other even some of the brother 317 00:20:24,400 --> 00:20:27,480 towns within the same county. I know that here in 318 00:20:27,480 --> 00:20:31,599 this particular county, since CMCD does go county wide, that 319 00:20:31,720 --> 00:20:36,440 there is some pushback with some of the other towns 320 00:20:36,480 --> 00:20:41,279 in the county with regarding to how their services are 321 00:20:41,319 --> 00:20:45,440 being met. Another ways, So I was just wondering, how 322 00:20:45,559 --> 00:20:48,000 is she gonn amend some of these, uh, some of 323 00:20:48,039 --> 00:20:52,640 these conflicts with other services, and obviously police goes along 324 00:20:52,680 --> 00:20:55,240 with with these other services as supposedly. 325 00:20:55,359 --> 00:20:58,000 Speaker 2: What do you mean what what conflicts? What conflicts are 326 00:20:58,000 --> 00:20:58,680 you talking about? 327 00:20:59,759 --> 00:21:03,920 Speaker 3: Well, specifically, you know, like Matthews is definitely dead said 328 00:21:03,960 --> 00:21:06,839 against the one percent sales taxs because they're saying that 329 00:21:07,279 --> 00:21:11,440 we're not going to get anything until twenty twenty one 330 00:21:11,519 --> 00:21:13,720 hundred or something like that, for another one hundred years, 331 00:21:14,079 --> 00:21:18,119 so obviously, and then the there's also a conflict there 332 00:21:18,160 --> 00:21:22,160 with Matthew specifically that the cop city. I don't know, 333 00:21:22,200 --> 00:21:24,319 there's been a lot of pushback with that. I don't 334 00:21:24,319 --> 00:21:27,480 know whatever it has been resolved, whether it's a developer 335 00:21:28,160 --> 00:21:30,920 for city city has decided to try to put that 336 00:21:31,039 --> 00:21:34,519 on the backburner until the next twenty twenty seven budget 337 00:21:34,559 --> 00:21:38,160 to see if things become resolved, or whether they found 338 00:21:38,240 --> 00:21:41,359 another another plot of land somewhere else within the county. 339 00:21:41,599 --> 00:21:43,759 Speaker 2: Well, as far as I know, they're moving As far 340 00:21:43,759 --> 00:21:46,279 as I know, they're moving forward with that training facility. 341 00:21:47,279 --> 00:21:50,400 And I don't know what the what the chief. I 342 00:21:50,400 --> 00:21:53,640 don't think the CMPD chief of police would have anything 343 00:21:53,759 --> 00:21:59,720 to do with the transit stuff. That's why I asked 344 00:21:59,720 --> 00:22:01,440 about you said there was some sort of conflict. How 345 00:22:01,559 --> 00:22:05,880 was how would she go about mending relationships with these 346 00:22:05,920 --> 00:22:08,680 other with with the six small towns or whatever. And 347 00:22:09,039 --> 00:22:11,759 that's why I asked what conflicts because I'm unaware, Like 348 00:22:11,839 --> 00:22:16,240 I know, people complain in the unincorporated areas where you know, 349 00:22:16,279 --> 00:22:19,880 they don't see CMPD presence a whole lot, maybe, and 350 00:22:19,920 --> 00:22:25,480 they complain about that, but that's a contracted service basically. 351 00:22:26,119 --> 00:22:28,480 And then you know, the small towns around Charlotte, they've 352 00:22:28,519 --> 00:22:33,799 got their own police forces. So was there some specific 353 00:22:33,839 --> 00:22:36,279 thing about police that there's a conflict over. 354 00:22:37,839 --> 00:22:39,559 Speaker 3: No, I was just saying, how was she going to 355 00:22:39,599 --> 00:22:42,960 continue those relationships and mend any any harm that might 356 00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:46,039 have been happened from the previous administration. 357 00:22:47,400 --> 00:22:48,000 Speaker 1: Yeah, I don't know. 358 00:22:49,200 --> 00:22:52,720 Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't know what what harms may have may 359 00:22:52,759 --> 00:22:54,599 have been, but I appreciate the call. 360 00:22:54,640 --> 00:22:57,680 Speaker 1: Michael. I don't know what harms you're referring to. 361 00:22:57,759 --> 00:22:59,960 Speaker 2: And I mean, I'm you know, that's one of the 362 00:23:00,039 --> 00:23:01,920 benefits of bringing somebody new in is that you get 363 00:23:01,920 --> 00:23:04,359 to build your own relationships. Now she has been on 364 00:23:04,480 --> 00:23:07,160 the force, and she was on the force for twenty 365 00:23:07,160 --> 00:23:12,920 five years. Charlotte FOP is very supportive. The Fraternal Order 366 00:23:12,960 --> 00:23:19,559 of Police very supportive of her hiring. This is from 367 00:23:19,559 --> 00:23:25,960 the Charlotte Observer. The FOP released a statement, actually this 368 00:23:26,000 --> 00:23:30,359 is from their Facebook page. Congratulations to Chief Estella Patterson 369 00:23:30,720 --> 00:23:33,680 on being chosen as the next Charlotte Mecklamberg Police Department 370 00:23:33,720 --> 00:23:36,839 police chief. She served CMPD for twenty five years before 371 00:23:36,920 --> 00:23:39,920 leaving to serve the Raleigh Police Department until her retirement 372 00:23:39,960 --> 00:23:43,000 in March. Her name was repeatedly mentioned in an FOP 373 00:23:43,200 --> 00:23:47,759 survey as someone our members wanted as cmpd's next police chief. 374 00:23:47,920 --> 00:23:50,839 We are extremely grateful for her willingness to serve. We 375 00:23:50,880 --> 00:23:54,160 wholeheartedly support Charlotte City Manager Marcus Jones's decision and are 376 00:23:54,200 --> 00:23:56,839 looking forward to working with Chief Patterson on matters important 377 00:23:56,839 --> 00:24:01,799 to our members. Now they don't say this, but I 378 00:24:01,880 --> 00:24:06,319 do wonder if like she was like This was a 379 00:24:06,400 --> 00:24:09,759 question that was asked during the press conference by the 380 00:24:09,839 --> 00:24:10,640 Charlotte Observer. 381 00:24:11,319 --> 00:24:12,400 Speaker 1: Do you remember the Keith. 382 00:24:12,279 --> 00:24:17,440 Speaker 2: Lamont Scott protests, right, the guy who was shot by 383 00:24:17,480 --> 00:24:21,759 police because he had a gun wouldn't drop it and 384 00:24:21,799 --> 00:24:24,640 then raised it up to point it at cops and 385 00:24:24,680 --> 00:24:28,119 they opened fire and they killed him. And this was 386 00:24:28,160 --> 00:24:32,680 supposed to be some sort of racial injustice proof. But 387 00:24:32,759 --> 00:24:36,839 the officer that shot him was black. He was black, 388 00:24:37,480 --> 00:24:40,720 and so it didn't really fit that that narrative that 389 00:24:40,759 --> 00:24:45,599 would fully form with George Floyd. But she was apparently 390 00:24:45,640 --> 00:24:48,559 in internal affairs, and she was, I guess in charge 391 00:24:48,559 --> 00:24:51,759 of the panel that cleared the officer that called it 392 00:24:51,759 --> 00:24:55,200 a good shoot, right, Like that's and so I wonder 393 00:24:55,279 --> 00:24:59,680 if like that decision and that kind of a record 394 00:25:00,400 --> 00:25:06,000 endears her to the officers, and many of them probably 395 00:25:06,079 --> 00:25:09,359 know her from her time on the force. Right, all right, 396 00:25:09,359 --> 00:25:11,200 if you're listening to this show, you know I try 397 00:25:11,200 --> 00:25:12,960 to keep up with all sorts of current events, and 398 00:25:13,039 --> 00:25:15,079 I know you do too, And you've probably heard me 399 00:25:15,119 --> 00:25:19,319 say get your news from multiple sources. Why Well, because 400 00:25:19,359 --> 00:25:22,039 it's how you detect media bias, which is why I've 401 00:25:22,079 --> 00:25:25,400 been so impressed with ground News. It's an app and 402 00:25:25,599 --> 00:25:28,519 it's a website and it combines news from around the 403 00:25:28,519 --> 00:25:31,200 world in one place, so you can compare coverage and 404 00:25:31,359 --> 00:25:35,160 verify information. You can check it out at check dot ground, 405 00:25:35,480 --> 00:25:38,519 dot news slash pete. I put the link in the 406 00:25:38,519 --> 00:25:41,759 podcast description too. I started using ground News a few 407 00:25:41,799 --> 00:25:44,480 months ago and more recently chose to work with them 408 00:25:44,519 --> 00:25:47,319 as an affiliate because it lets me see clearly how 409 00:25:47,440 --> 00:25:50,839 stories get covered and by whom. The blind spot feature 410 00:25:50,880 --> 00:25:53,519 shows you which stories get ignored by the left and 411 00:25:53,640 --> 00:25:57,640 the right. See for yourself check dot ground, dot news 412 00:25:58,000 --> 00:26:01,440 slash pete. Subscribe through that and you'll get fifteen percent 413 00:26:01,519 --> 00:26:04,400 off any subscription. I use the Vantage plan to get 414 00:26:04,480 --> 00:26:07,960 unlimited access to every feature your subscription then not only 415 00:26:08,000 --> 00:26:10,920 helps my podcast, but it also supports ground news as 416 00:26:10,960 --> 00:26:13,400 they make the media landscape more transparent. 417 00:26:14,599 --> 00:26:15,279 Speaker 1: I'll just say it. 418 00:26:17,119 --> 00:26:19,799 Speaker 2: This is the honeymoon period for the new police chief, 419 00:26:20,519 --> 00:26:25,119 Estella Patterson. Everybody was very happy today. It's you know, 420 00:26:25,440 --> 00:26:31,119 there's a grace period. There's a honeymoon period. But I 421 00:26:31,160 --> 00:26:35,880 have questions. I have some questions. I will outline some 422 00:26:36,000 --> 00:26:40,000 of my questions in the next hour. I have audio 423 00:26:40,039 --> 00:26:42,240 to play. I have a couple of phone calls to 424 00:26:42,240 --> 00:26:46,839 get to and the questions are not necessarily well, not 425 00:26:46,920 --> 00:26:50,480 all of them are directed at her. I have questions 426 00:26:50,480 --> 00:26:54,920 about the City of Charlotte. Far be it from me 427 00:26:55,000 --> 00:26:58,200 to suggest that the city might enter into some sort 428 00:26:58,200 --> 00:27:03,480 of a settlement with a city employee for a large 429 00:27:03,559 --> 00:27:04,359 chunk of money. 430 00:27:05,200 --> 00:27:06,759 Speaker 1: You know, But. 431 00:27:08,359 --> 00:27:13,079 Speaker 2: There's there is a related story here. Let me first 432 00:27:13,119 --> 00:27:16,960 play the SoundBite. This is from the Charlotte Observer reporter 433 00:27:17,160 --> 00:27:20,519 question that I mentioned before the break there about Keith 434 00:27:20,559 --> 00:27:28,400 Lemont Scott, who was shot by cmpd oh gosh eight 435 00:27:28,480 --> 00:27:32,319 years ago. I think it was long before George Floyd 436 00:27:32,359 --> 00:27:34,359 and the riots and all that. But that's what started 437 00:27:34,359 --> 00:27:38,759 the local I mean, that's what propelled Braxton Winston into 438 00:27:38,799 --> 00:27:44,680 his run for Charlotte City Council, which he won. 439 00:27:45,039 --> 00:27:48,279 Speaker 1: Right. So here's the question from the Observer. 440 00:27:50,000 --> 00:27:51,680 Speaker 4: Jeff Chamber Charlotte's Every thank you. 441 00:27:52,319 --> 00:27:54,119 Speaker 2: I wanted to ask you about your time previously with 442 00:27:54,200 --> 00:27:57,279 CMPD when you were ahead of internal affairs. 443 00:27:57,960 --> 00:27:59,920 Speaker 3: Do you stand by your decision to clear the officer 444 00:28:00,160 --> 00:28:02,240 shot Keith fla Monscot Okay? 445 00:28:02,279 --> 00:28:04,519 Speaker 2: I would add the answer to that question is yes, 446 00:28:05,400 --> 00:28:06,680 I do stand by that decision. 447 00:28:07,079 --> 00:28:08,839 Speaker 1: We made that decision at the time. It was the 448 00:28:08,920 --> 00:28:11,720 right decision. I stand by that decision And. 449 00:28:11,680 --> 00:28:13,240 Speaker 4: How do you feel about that decision now? 450 00:28:14,200 --> 00:28:15,920 Speaker 2: I don't feel any way about it. It was the 451 00:28:16,000 --> 00:28:18,039 right decision to make. Thank you like That's how I 452 00:28:18,039 --> 00:28:21,000 would have answered this question. Here's how Chief Patterson answered me. 453 00:28:21,839 --> 00:28:23,839 Speaker 5: I was seven, eight years maybe even ten years ago. 454 00:28:24,200 --> 00:28:27,119 My position is very clear when it comes to excessive force, 455 00:28:27,400 --> 00:28:29,799 when it comes to treating the community with disrespect, we 456 00:28:29,839 --> 00:28:32,720 will never ever have that. I would never uphold that 457 00:28:33,559 --> 00:28:36,200 as the major in Internal Affairs and then going to 458 00:28:36,200 --> 00:28:38,519 be the chief and Raleigh, my position has always been 459 00:28:38,880 --> 00:28:41,359 that we will make sure that we treat every member 460 00:28:41,400 --> 00:28:44,400 of our community with the utmost respect and with dignity. 461 00:28:44,640 --> 00:28:47,000 That is a position that I will take and continue 462 00:28:47,079 --> 00:28:48,039 to take moving forward. 463 00:28:49,400 --> 00:28:49,720 Speaker 1: All right. 464 00:28:49,759 --> 00:28:53,720 Speaker 2: So remember the question was do you stand by that decision? 465 00:28:54,720 --> 00:28:58,240 And the answer to that I would assume and should 466 00:28:58,279 --> 00:29:01,839 have been yes. I absolutely stand by that decision. It 467 00:29:01,880 --> 00:29:02,799 was the correct decision. 468 00:29:04,519 --> 00:29:04,880 Speaker 6: All right. 469 00:29:05,240 --> 00:29:07,279 Speaker 1: Let me go over here and talk to James. 470 00:29:07,279 --> 00:29:11,480 Speaker 4: Hello, Jeans, Hey, that last caller you had was talking 471 00:29:11,519 --> 00:29:15,519 about issues with CMPD and the surrounding police agencies. 472 00:29:16,000 --> 00:29:20,039 Speaker 2: Yeah, I wasn't clear what he was what Michael was 473 00:29:20,519 --> 00:29:23,200 getting at, if there was some sort of I don't know, 474 00:29:23,400 --> 00:29:27,079 hard feelings or conflicts or something with other jurisdictions. 475 00:29:27,119 --> 00:29:28,559 Speaker 1: I wasn't quite clear on that. 476 00:29:29,480 --> 00:29:33,160 Speaker 6: Well, to my knowledge and agreeably, I am retired now, 477 00:29:33,240 --> 00:29:35,920 but there wasn't any conflict or bad feelings that I 478 00:29:35,960 --> 00:29:38,880 was aware of back when I was working. And as 479 00:29:38,920 --> 00:29:42,759 far as the north end of the county goes, we 480 00:29:42,839 --> 00:29:45,799 don't ever see a Charlotte Mecklenburg police officer up here 481 00:29:45,839 --> 00:29:49,440 now because if you call, and this has been pretty 482 00:29:49,480 --> 00:29:52,119 much the same for at least fifteen years, if you 483 00:29:52,160 --> 00:29:55,599 live in an unincorporated area, you call nine to one one. 484 00:29:56,160 --> 00:30:00,000 If it's in Davidson's area of responsibility, the Davison police 485 00:30:00,200 --> 00:30:03,559 show up. Yeah, Hunters area, the Hunters of Will police 486 00:30:03,559 --> 00:30:07,200 show up. Same thing for Canelias. So CMPD didn't come 487 00:30:07,279 --> 00:30:07,960 up here anymore. 488 00:30:08,160 --> 00:30:11,880 Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, and and there are that's sort of the 489 00:30:12,279 --> 00:30:16,200 standard contract uh kind of service that CMPD does for 490 00:30:16,240 --> 00:30:19,480 the unincorporated areas, and Mecklenburg County commissioners are free to 491 00:30:19,680 --> 00:30:24,400 contract with any of the town police in order to 492 00:30:24,440 --> 00:30:29,319 provide coverage. And that makes more sense, uh, for for 493 00:30:29,440 --> 00:30:34,279 those towns to police, uh, the unincorporated areas around them, 494 00:30:34,640 --> 00:30:38,480 because they're already up there, and they've already got their 495 00:30:38,519 --> 00:30:42,000 police stations up there, right they got there, you know, 496 00:30:42,000 --> 00:30:44,519 it's easier for them to mobilize because they're closer. 497 00:30:44,640 --> 00:30:48,519 Speaker 4: So it just makes sense, yeah, that the the response 498 00:30:48,599 --> 00:30:52,599 times are much much better. And uh, as I said, 499 00:30:52,799 --> 00:30:55,799 I Absolulie, I was trying to figure out what what 500 00:30:55,960 --> 00:30:59,519 your caller was talking about, because to my knowledge, there 501 00:30:59,599 --> 00:31:03,559 was any hard feelings between CMBD and the at least 502 00:31:03,559 --> 00:31:05,559 not the townships in the northern End. 503 00:31:05,759 --> 00:31:08,599 Speaker 2: No, and I'm not aware of any hard hard feelings 504 00:31:08,680 --> 00:31:12,039 with any of the other law enforcement agencies in Mecklenburg County, 505 00:31:12,119 --> 00:31:15,079 so that's why I was asking them for, like to clarify. 506 00:31:16,200 --> 00:31:18,480 I do know that there were in the past, there 507 00:31:18,519 --> 00:31:21,960 were you could call them conflicts or disagreements about the 508 00:31:22,000 --> 00:31:25,359 cost of the contracted services, but that was at the 509 00:31:25,400 --> 00:31:28,839 county commissioner level. That was never between the agencies. So James, 510 00:31:28,839 --> 00:31:31,920 I appreciate the call, sir, thanks so much, right, yes, sir, 511 00:31:32,000 --> 00:31:36,160 take care. All right, that'll do it for this episode. 512 00:31:36,240 --> 00:31:38,319 Thank you so much for listening. I could not do 513 00:31:38,359 --> 00:31:40,519 the show without your support and the support of the 514 00:31:40,519 --> 00:31:43,559 businesses that advertise on the podcast, so if you'd like, 515 00:31:43,720 --> 00:31:45,799 please support them too and tell them you heard it here. 516 00:31:45,960 --> 00:31:48,480 You can also become a patron at my Patreon page 517 00:31:48,599 --> 00:31:52,160 or go to dpetecleanershow dot com. Again, thank you so 518 00:31:52,240 --> 00:32:02,079 much for listening, and don't break anything while I'm gone.