What Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officers want from new Chief of Police

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Fraternal Order of Police is weighing in on what they want to see in the next top cop who comes after Police Chief Johnny Jennings when he retires at the end of the year.

A survey also just went out online asking people who live and work in the city to rank priorities for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police, like crime prevention, response time reduction, and fair and just policing.

“It’s refreshing that the City of Charlotte is conducting its own independent survey as well of citizens,” said Dan Redford, President of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 9.

Redford says the FOP surveyed its members, and of the more than 400 responses, 81% want the next police chief to come from outside CMPD.

“They want a police chief that’s going to support them, going to speak up for them even when the cameras aren’t around,” said Redford.

Redford says he has met with the city manager to relay the message from FOP members, and he sent letters to city council members.

If they act on what the FOP wants, it would be the first time in more than 10 years that a chief did not come from within the department.

“We want to have somebody that comes from another agency or comes from multiple, prior agencies that’s able to come in here and take what worked in all of those for the better and bring that idea and innovation here, so that we can improve, we can improve retention, improve morale and make it so that officers stay, and we can better address the crime going on in our streets,” said Redford.