CMPD wants FBI to investigate officers for civil rights violations, racist text messages

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department has asked the FBI to investigate six officers who were recently exposed for using racial slurs and reportedly competing over who could pull over the most Black drivers. CMPD — which is in charge of policing the country’s 14th largest city, where a third of its population is Black — on Thursday broke its silence about the investigation that unearthed the divisive and upsetting texts.

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“My personal reaction is one of disgust,” Chief Estella Patterson said at a news conference inside the Spectrum Center.

She said internal affairs found several years of text messages that showed racial, sexual and religious bias. Six officers were involved in the investigation. Three have resigned, and three have been recommended for termination.

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Before local TV stations broke the news of the messages, Patterson called Charlotte’s NAACP President Corine Mack. In an interview with The Charlotte Observer, Mack said she was infuriated that CMPD still does not try to screen its officers for racist or white supremacists ideologies.

Patterson on Thursday said they are reviewing potential gaps in their hiring process.

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This is a developing story.