CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Mecklenburg County District Attorney announced his intention Friday for all future, deadly police-involved shootings in Charlotte to be investigated by state officials rather than the same police department involved in the shooting. The announcement came after public demand from the community and the NAACP that an independent, third party should be reviewing deadly shootings involving police officers.
DA Spencer Merriweather III is requesting the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) conduct criminal investigations following future incidents. With some exceptions, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department currently conducts its own internal review of shootings involving its officers.
The NAACP is calling the change a "a step in the right direction."
"Police should not be policing themselves. They should not," NAACP President Corine Mack said. "When I came here 12 years ago, I was shocked that police were doing investigations, so I've been saying it since then."
This new policy will take effect as soon as a protocol is developed that addresses many operational concerns, including standard procedures enabling local police to secure the scene until SBI investigators can arrive to assume command of the investigation, according to Merriweather. When the SBI completes its investigation of an officer-involved shooting, the SBI would turn the investigation over to the District Attorney’s Office to determine whether the evidence supports criminal charges.
"The family of the decedent always had the opportunity to ask the State Bureau of Investigations to come in and conduct an independent investigation," Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department Chief Kerr Putney said in a response video posted to Twitter Friday. "This decision now, makes it automatic."
The proposed workflow is similar to procedures currently utilized in South Carolina, where the State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) investigates local police-involved shootings. Other police departments in Mecklenburg County, such as the Matthews or Pineville police departments, already turn their investigations of officer involved shootings over to the SBI, according to Merriweather.
In his recommendation Friday, Merriweather commended CMPD for its previous investigations but called his intention a way to unify transparency across departments.
“CMPD has conducted professional and extraordinarily thorough investigations of shootings involving the department’s officers, and the District Attorney’s Office has been confident in the integrity of those investigations,” Merriweather said in a released statement. “Nevertheless, just as we counsel our prosecutors and staff against the appearance of a conflict of interest, we must do what we can to ensure we avoid perceived conflict in these investigations whenever possible. The criminal justice system cannot – and should not – function without public confidence.”
"It's no secret, I continue to have confidence in the way we've conducted investigations." CMPD Chief Kerr Putney said. "We remain a professional organization committed to fact-finding getting to the truth, that's not going to change."
Merriweather said he will meet on August 27 with Charlotte’s Citizens Review Board to discuss their recommendation for independent investigations of officer-involved shootings. His office said the change is not the result of any specific case or request.
After a Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department officer shot and killed Danquirs Franklin outside a Burger King on Beatties Ford Road in May, Councilmembers Dimple Ajmera and Matt Newton suggested the SBI may be needed to investigate any future incidents. An attorney for Franklin's family said Friday they like the concept of outside investigations.
Previously, state investigations have been involved in select cases involving deaths at the hands of CMPD officers. After the 2013 shooting of Jonathan Ferrell by Officer Randall “Wes” Kerrick, state investigators did conduct their own, separate investigation.
DA Merriweather said he has notified SBI Director Bob Schurmeier and CMPD Chief Kerr Putney of this decision.
A spokesperson for the SBI said agency heads will meet next week with the district attorney "to discuss operationally how this agreement will work."
A timeline for the implementation was not released.