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CHARLOTTE — The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department has identified seven officers involved in an investigation into racist text messages.
Channel 9 first reported on the controversial messages last week, and CMPD Chief Estella Patterson said in a news conference that several of the officers had already resigned. She said all of the officers involved were cited for termination, and she was working to revoke their police licenses in the state.
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No criminal charges have been filed against the officers at this time.
The investigation first came to light after the State Bureau of Investigation discovered the messages while looking into misuse of Flock cameras by former CMPD officer Seth Elliott.
On Monday, CMPD released the personnel information records under a state public records law that addresses misinformation surrounding the officers’ names.
Five of the six officers cited for termination on Oct. 9 submitted their resignations after being suspended without pay.
Larsen submitted his resignation on Monday. The last officer cited for termination on Oct. 9 will remain suspended without pay pending further administrative review.
Both officers are awaiting review by the Civil Service Board.
Elliott resigned earlier in the summer. Elliott was hired Feb. 26, 2024, and was arrested July 29 by the State Bureau of Investigation on charges of illegally accessing a government computer related to the misuse of Flock technology.
CMPD placed Elliott on unpaid administrative leave the day of his arrest, and he resigned Aug. 4 while the administrative investigation was ongoing.
Larsen and Todman remain suspended without pay pending their scheduled reviews before the Civil Service Board.
CMPD Chief Estella Patterson revealed in last week’s news conference that the text messages dated back several years, and they included racist, sexist, and religiously biased messages.
The text messages included use of the N-word. The exact messages haven’t been shared publicly, however.
It’s also not clear who started the message thread or who made the racist, sexist, or religiously biased comments. We don’t know how often each officer sent messages or how they were involved in the conversations.
Rev. Corine Mack, the president of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg NAACP, says that doesn’t matter.
“You still were aware of not just racism, but intent to do harm to specific groups of people, and you took an oath to protect and serve,” Mack said.
Channel 9 asked Patterson last week if any of the messages showed that the officers were targeting Black drivers. Patterson said, “We investigated that, we do not have any evidence to support that.”
CMPD says that so far, nothing has pointed to officers violating anyone’s civil rights. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Attorney’s Office are also investigating that.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated. Check back for the latest developments.
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Andrew McMillan is the Digital Content Manager for WSOC-TV.
Hunter is a reporter for Channel 9.
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