Three Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department officers have resigned amid an investigation into allegations that at least six cops took part in a competition to pull over the most Black drivers and used racist language, including the “n-word” in a text group chat.
The story was first reported by several local news stations.
Significance. The text messages were uncovered by the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation probe into Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department officer Seth Elliot’s misuse of Flock surveillance cameras, according to the local stations, which spoke with multiple anonymous sources. He now faces criminal charges for using that technology to aid someone under investigation for a drug-related crime.
The state’s probe uncovered additional data and racist text messages with other cops on his phone. The police department subsequently launched its own internal investigation into the text messages, which revealed that Elliott and five other officers within the department were in on the competition to see who could pull over the most Black drivers during traffic stops.
Investigators also found that the involved officers used racial slurs and derogatory language, like the “n-word,” in conversations about using lethal force on Black residents.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department Chief Estella Patterson announced during a press conference on Thursday that three of the officers involved in the racial discrimination and wrongdoings resigned.
“Specifically, the six – three of whom have resigned from the police department – and the other three that I hope to soon refer to as former employees. The allegations against them are serious. They’re deeply troubling, and frankly, I’m disappointed that we’re even having to talk about this today,” said Estella in the press conference.
“I can assure you that as a department, when we learned of this, we acted swiftly and decisively when we found those disturbing text messages,” Estella continued.
Estella said the discovery of the texts prompted immediate audits into the body-worn footage, traffic stop data, and arrest records of the officers involved to fully understand the extent of their actions and racial discrimination.
Overlooked angle. Many community members have raised concerns about whether these officers can remain part of law enforcement in other jurisdictions and at other levels following the investigations into their actions at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.
Estella said she is aware of these possibilities and is taking action to prosecute them to the fullest in order to seize their ability to remain part of law enforcement.
“As of this point, we have not found any evidence of this, but I have asked our federal partners to look at the possibility of civil rights violations,” Estella said in the press conference. “And we will be pursuing, as an organization, the revocation of their North Carolina law enforcement certificate so that they cannot be an officer anywhere in our state. And I hope that they will not be an officer anywhere in this country.”
Power structure. Black and brown people have long been targeted by police officers and policing norms that date back to the historic foundations of the field.
The practice of American policing partly originates from the patrols used to hunt enslaved Black people who tried to escape plantations. Tactics like excessive force and the use of ankle monitors are just a couple of examples of historic ties to the enslavement of Black and Brown people.
In addition, previous reporting by The Emancipator has found that Black drivers are searched twice as often as White counterparts during traffic stops.
The text messages from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department officers offer another example of the systemic racial targeting of Black drivers throughout the nation’s policing practices.
What experts say. Rev. Corine Mack, president of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg NAACP, held a press conference on Friday to call for the names of the officers involved to be publicly released to ensure they never become law enforcement officers again.
“If it is proven that there were civil and human rights violations, we want them to be placed in the same situation as any other person who may not, in fact, have been an officer,” Mack said.
“Let’s keep in mind that anyone who goes into law enforcement becomes an authority [figure] in that state. [They are] state-sanctioned [officers] carrying a firearm and a taser to do harm. Oftentimes with impunity. We are not going to tolerate any officer who has been racializing black people to serve here in Mecklenburg.”
