MECKLENBURG COUNTY, N.C. — Tuesday night, the Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners received an update from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department and police departments of surrounding towns on crime rates in the county's extraterritorial jurisdictions (ETJs).
ETJs are unincorporated areas in the county that belong to the city of Charlotte or its surrounding towns. While CMPD is responsible for responding to calls in Charlotte's ETJ and many of the towns' ETJs, some towns have taken that responsibility on themselves.
For example, the Huntersville and Cornelius police departments have patrolled their ETJs since 2019. The Pineville Police Department will take its ETJ over from CMPD in July 2023.
The town police departments have said providing services to their unincorporated areas helps build relationships with their communities and lower response times to calls for service.
The town of Davidson and the town of Mint Hill provide police services inside their town limits, but CMPD responds to calls in their ETJs.
According to CMPD's presentation, Charlotte's ETJs saw 6% more crime from 2021 to 2022, Mint Hill's ETJ saw a staggering 68% increase in crime, and Pineville's ETJ saw a 17% reduction in crime. Davidson's ETJ didn't have any reported crime trends.
CMPD Deputy Chief Tonya Arrington told commissioners the reason behind Mint Hill's spike in crime is auto thefts. Specifically, she pointed to the social media challenge where suspects are stealing Kias and Hyundais.
Arrington added CMPD is meeting its response time goals in some areas, but not in Pineville and Mint Hill's ETJs.
"We are struggling a little bit with our Priority Two calls of service, you can see we have response time of 15 minutes with the goal of 10 minutes,” Arrington explained.
She attributed the slower response times to the department's labor shortage, which police departments are seeing nationwide.
While other agencies like the Huntersville and Pineville police departments also have vacancies to fill, they believe taking over their ETJs will help close the gap since they're generally closer to the area.
"I think it’s really about getting there and building bonds with the community you live and work in,” Huntersville Police Department Major Barry Graham told WCNC Charlotte.
The Huntersville Police Department reports its extraterritorial jurisdiction had a 32% increase in crime from 2021 to 2022, and Cornelius PD says its ETJ doesn't have crime trends to report.
Contact Julia Kauffman at jkauffman@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.