Reported use of force by Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department officers was down last year. A reportfrom the CMPD's internal affairs bureau said officers used force in 369 incidents during 2017 – that’s 45 fewer times than the previous year.
The majority of cases involved what police call “personal weapons” – such as an officers’ hands and physical strength.
Officers were involved in five deadly force incidents last year, including three in which a suspect was killed. Officers used tasers 40 times. The report said CMPD officers had more than 10,000 encounters with armed individuals in 2017 – most of which were successfully de-escalated.
Five CMPD employees were criminally charged last year. The internal affairs bureau also handled 146 cases of alleged misconduct involving CMPD personnel. That was 43 fewer cases than the previous year. In nearly three-quarters of last year’s misconduct investigations, the department found “sufficient evidence” to show that an employee did violate CMPD policy.
