The following article appeared in the February 20, 2026, edition of The Charlotte Ledger, an e-newsletter with smart and original local news for Charlotte. We offer free and paid subscription plans. More info here.
CMPD’s tech usage; will AI answer your next low-priority call?
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department Chief Estella Patterson has been on the job now for almost three months, after serving as police chief in Raleigh.
Beyond talking about violent crime being down on a year-over-year basis, and a two-week initiative to step up enforcement in uptown that resulted in over 400 citations and 34 arrests, Patterson told business and community leaders at South Charlotte Partners’ breakfast event on Thursday morning about technologies being employed by CMPD amid advancements in tech and a chronic officer shortage.
Patterson many times touted Connect Charlotte, a new public safety program that allows business owners and residents to connect their private security cameras to CMPD’s real-time crime center.
There are two “levels” to Connect Charlotte:
One allows business owners and residents to register their security cameras with Connect Charlotte so CMPD can help identify area cameras if an incident happens nearby. A CMPD investigator will contact those who are registered via email if they need assistance solving a crime nearby, according to the Connect Charlotte website. Registering a camera does not allow CMPD to access any live video streams, according to the agency.
The second is for business owners to allow CMPD direct access to camera feeds if there’s a nearby emergency. Patterson said the agency doesn’t need to see what’s going on inside a business, but exterior cameras can capture footage of what’s usually the only entry and exit point of a business.
Patterson also said CMPD has started a “small pilot” around artificial intelligence, with an AI assistant taking some “low, low priority calls” to handle a report. Right now, she added, CMPD is barely touching AI, but said artificial intelligence is likely to become more pervasive, especially to free up officers to handle violent crimes and community work versus lower-level incidents like minor car accidents.
Drones may be used by CMPD for the first time later this year, possibly alongside AI. Patterson said funding from Charlotte City Council and the CMPD Foundation is paying for the program, in which the agency can send a drone to assess a scene. They would also be deployed in lower-priority calls, Patterson said.
The drone program likely wouldn’t roll out until the fourth quarter of this year, though, she said. Other items from Patterson’s talk:
CMPD officer shortage: Patterson said the numbers fluctuate, but as of Thursday morning, CMPD is authorized for 1,936 officers, and the agency is short about 260. “Ideally, a city this size would probably need over 2,100 officers,” she said.
Uptown safety concerns: One attendee said he, his wife and two sons used to take the light rail into uptown to catch a game, but won’t do that anymore because of safety concerns. Patterson said CMPD’s entertainment district unit has been working to address crime around uptown nightclubs in the evenings, while CMPD is also trying to increase officer visibility in uptown during the day. She said CMPD has not historically had officers on the light rail, but there is now a team of officers that assists with the private security hired by Charlotte Transit Area System — likely in the wake of two stabbings on the light rail last year.
More lighting uptown?: Patterson said areas of uptown like The Square are so dark. Duke Energy, the city and Charlotte Center City Partners on Thursday said they are behind a project called Tryon Street Refresh, an effort to modernize uptown lighting with LED technology. “We want businesses to come back. We want the vibrancy of the city to come back,” Patterson said.
—Ashley Fahey
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