As an outsider looking in - and grateful for the distance - it seems as if there's not a lot to brag about that works as far as Charlotte, North Carolina's city governance goes.
The reason a weeping Ukrainian mother, ignored by heartless, soulless Democrats at the State of the Union last night, was in the chamber at all was to honor the memory of her beautiful daughter, Iryna Zarutska, slaughtered in a Charlotte light rail car on her way home from work by yet another poster child for progressive governance.
Much as shameless Democrats last evening could not acknowledge the heartache of that mother's pain and that hardworking immigrant's precious young life sacrificed, the mayor of Charlotte at the time could not say her name.
She could only mouth excuses for the monster wielding the knife.
For the record, if someone ever violently murders me in an innocuous public setting, I want my family and my friends to raise hell about it. I would not have wanted you to be compassionate. I would want you to avenge me.
— L (@SomeBitchIIKnow) September 7, 2025
Thanks. https://t.co/H1qNJwT7Gi
Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles could only thank the 'media and community partners' who wouldn't share the footage that exposed how dangerous the rail system was, even as more horror stories of attacks and the complete neglect with which passenger security had been treated were revealed, not only on the rail lines, but on city buses as well.
Somehow, this incompetent woman was reelected to continue mouthing platitudes about compassion for criminals, while the sentencing leniency continues.
A Concord NC day care worker, Lashawna Williams, hot glued a screaming 3-year-old to a chair because the 3 year old wasn't sitting still causing second-degree burns.
— Mrgunsngear (@Mrgunsngear) February 25, 2026
She has now been convicted and what was her sentence? 10 days in jail. 10 days 🤨#CityLife #charlotte… pic.twitter.com/AiOZVEnN2B
The children of the city are growing up on the streets with no limits, no restraints on their behavior, and zero consequences. Reports indicate that even formerly 'nice' neighborhoods and suburbs, once untroubled by more urban issues, are now facing weekend swarmings by teens.
Teenagers gathered at new locations across Charlotte this weekend after a curfew was implemented at Birkdale Village in Huntersville.
The 6 p.m. curfew at Birkdale Village, effective Friday, Feb. 20, was enacted after a group of teens blocked traffic and jumped on a car during Valentine’s Day weekend.
In response to the disruption, Birkdale Village’s managing company, Hines, announced it would increase the presence of off-duty officers on Friday and Saturday nights, effective immediately.
The new security measures seem to be welcome news to neighbors in the area.
“I think it’s great. I was here when that whole debacle happened last Saturday. It was insane. I don’t feel like that’s the neighborhood we live in,” said Jenna Martin, referring to the Birkdale Village incident.
When a location clamps down, the behavior doesn't stop - it merely changes venue.
Birkdale Village used to be a pretty high end, EXTREMELY safe neighborhood north of Charlotte NC on Lake Norman.
— Mrgunsngear (@Mrgunsngear) February 18, 2026
Well those days are over. It has now been enriched...
"Birkdale Village in Huntersville will begin enforcing an earlier curfew for teenagers, after two viral… pic.twitter.com/wdnZdeFEcC
..."Birkdale Village in Huntersville will begin enforcing an earlier curfew for teenagers, after two viral videos showed a crowd of kids blocking a street in the shopping mall on Saturday night."
Birkdale enacted and enforced a curfew, bringing in off-duty officers to handle it.
...On Saturday, Feb. 21, new videos showed a large crowd of teenagers at Camp North End. In one video, a young woman explained why the group chose the location.
“Since Birkdale closed, we’re at Camp North End,” she said.
The unruly crowds shifted to a new site.
The Charlotte Police Department, which is understaffed by about 300 officers, is constantly on the go.
Busy night and morning for CMPD. Charlotte must hire more officers asap. pic.twitter.com/9UC04X3sFa
— T Bradley (@TBradleyNC) February 22, 2026
And constantly coming up short, trying to keep up...
For 2 children kidnapped call last night, the responding officer asked for additional units. I believe the suspect had them in an apartment. Dispatch asked if any unit could respond…silence. She told the officer there were no available units in the city. Shortly after…
— T Bradley (@TBradleyNC) February 22, 2026
... Shortly after someone volunteered. Not many things higher priority than kidnapped children.
...even as officers do their best. The local Fraternal Order of Police head called for National Guard intervention this past October, and had blasted the mayor and local judiciary for their behavior and lack of police support and public safety concerns during the savage Zarutska killing.
Your heart goes out to those officers when you hear what their complaints have been.
The killing of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska is once again drawing attention to staffing shortages at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, as the head of group representing the city’s officers calls for outside help.
Daniel Redford, president of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 9, represents nearly 1,700 officers. In a letter to city leaders, he said he planned to request federal assistance — even suggesting the National Guard could temporarily support the department.
...“For me personally, and I think that there’s a lot of officers and even the public has come out and it seems that, you know, this is a little too, too late,” Redford said. “We’ve had enough violence in our streets. That action could have been taken sooner and it wasn’t.”
He believes Zarutska’s death drew national attention to problems that have long been ignored.
“Because I think if Iryna’s murder wouldn’t have made national news, I don’t have confidence that our city leaders would have done anything,” he said. “It would have just been the same old routine. So I’m glad that it’s gotten the national attention that it has. You know, I don’t want to criticize the actions that city council is doing to keep our community safe now. The criticism comes from the failure to do it before we could have potentially prevented this and many other homicides.”
Redford said CMPD continues to face a significant staffing shortage, estimating nearly 300 open positions.
“You have four people out of every 10 failing out of your academy class,” he said. “That does not do enough to close that nearly 300-vacancy gap that we have. And again, going back years and years of having sat with the city manager and addressing these staff and concerns with them, we just did not feel that there was enough action that was being taken to properly and adequately staff the police department.”
...Redford points to data from public records showing a reported 200% increase in homicides in Charlotte’s Central Division. Tillis, however, said he doesn’t believe the city is in enough danger to warrant federal intervention.
A 200% homicide increase in a single division in the city. Something is deeply wrong.
In December, the city got a new police chief.
Channel 9 sat down one-on-one with the new chief of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department on Thursday.
Estella Patterson was appointed as the new chief of the department last month, becoming the first woman to lead the force.
She aims to make Charlotte the safest major city in the country by improving staffing levels, boosting morale within the department, and repairing relations with the Fraternal Order of Police.
She had been the Raleigh chief of police for three years before coming back to her hometown of Charlotte.
What’s going on in Charlotte Trump asked. I’ll tell you I live here. We have a cancer running the city that doesn’t believe in locking people up for crime & let’s criminals rights be more important the innocent citizens lives.
— Jim (@strup2823) February 25, 2026
I hate going to Charlotte. You have to stay aware https://t.co/pK0lcyyegc
All I can do is wish her the best and a city that needs it, 'Good luck.'
One month after the city of Charlotte held a celebration for its new all electric fire station, its only electric fire truck is out of commission for repairs https://t.co/6OZE0agIoz
— Joe Bruno (@JoeBrunoWSOC9) February 23, 2026
They sure don't seem very focused on what matters.
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