Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Police release video of unrest in uptown Charlotte

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police have released 8 minutes, 25 seconds of surveillance of the uptown unrest that happened after Speed Street on May 28:

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

City releases report on uptown unrest

On Wednesday, the city of Charlotte released its first detailed report about last weekend's unrest in uptown, showing the time line of events that began Saturday evening with disorderly crowds and led up to a fatal shooting early Sunday. The following is the city's report:

An operational plan for 2011 Speed Street was developed forecasting personnel and equipment needs based upon events that occurred during Speed Street 2010. On duty and off duty personnel were staffed in the Center City and additional officers assigned to the Civil Emergency Unit (CEU) were on standby in their assigned divisions. The CEU officers were equipped and ready to respond upon activation to provide support to the Central Division officers and the officers working the Speed Street event in a Secondary Employment capacity.

On May 28, 2011, beginning at 6 p.m., the intersection of E. Trade Street and S College Street experienced a surge of youth between the ages of ten and twenty five years of age. This crowd was not attending the Speed Street event. The pedestrian crowd cruised the Center City area outside of the speed street event.

At approximately 7:30 p.m., the crowd surged again and based on crowd growth and behavior, Command activated the additional Civil Emergency Unit from the divisions according to the Speed Street Operations Plan. The first CEU squad was in place within 20 minutes. CEU officers were in standard police uniform and at no time during the evening was there a need for them to transition to protective gear which includes helmets/ shields, etc.

Several times during the night, groups of individuals would chant, display hand signs and yell “gun” causing groups of people to run. Firecrackers were set off by individuals in the crowd. Several arrests were made for criminal offenses such as disorderly conduct and public affray based on a no tolerance policy for this type of behavior by individuals. Vehicular and pedestrian traffic was maintained throughout the evening.

At 11:30 p.m., pedestrian traffic increased in the Trade Street/College Street area due to the conclusion of the Speed Street event. Officers continued to maintain pedestrian and vehicle traffic in the affected area and dealt with several fights and altercations. One fight which occurred in front of the Ritz Carlton Hotel resulted in the response of a CEU squad and Central Division officers. One of those involved in the fight confronted officers and became combative and a TASER was deployed to affect the arrest of the suspect. During the arrest of this individual and others involved in the fight, the crowd on the sidewalk east of the incident began running toward the arrest scene as someone further down the street yelled “gun” causing the crowd to charge the officers. Officers formed a barrier to keep the crowd separated from the officers involved in the arrest.

At approximately 1:30 a.m. Sunday morning, an officer working a traffic control point at 3rd Street and College Street reported by radio multiple shots fired. Central Division bicycle officers and foot patrol officers were on the scene in less than one minute locating two gunshot victims. It is believed that there was a confrontation between two groups who knew each other which lead to the homicide.

During the night, officers made several arrests for a variety of charges which are listed below:

TOTAL ARRESTS
: 76
MALE: 66
FEMALE: 10

CHARGE/TOTAL
2nd Degree Trespass: 3
Assault on a Female: 2
Assault on a Officer: 2
City/Town Violation: 1
Disorderly Conduct: 33
Failure to Disperse on Command: 1
Impeding Traffic: 3
Intoxicated & Disruptive: 9
Littering Under 15 lbs: 1
Obstructing Sidewalk: 6
Open Container: 1
Possession of Marijuana: 4
Public Affray: 14
Resist/Obstruct/Delay: 22
NOTE: Several suspects had multiple charges

Though the Center City area experienced large crowds and several fights, the fights were limited to small groups of individuals. Control of the Center City was maintained at all times.

The CMPD is still gathering details and reviewing video footage of the events that occurred and that information will be used in preparing for future events.