‘This is about the community and all of us coming together…’
(Claire Russel, Liberty Headlines) Vicki Foster, the retiring assistant chief of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg (NC) Police Department, is now speaking openly about the deadly violence that has spread across the city of Charlotte and political leadership’s inability to do anything about it.
“When I walked out the door, I felt this huge sense of relief,” she said, according to WSOC-TV.
The community needs to have some tough conversations about the rising homicide rate, Foster said, arguing that the “community is in crisis,” and that even after 28 years on the job, the level of crime Charlotte is now experiencing is unprecedented.
But the only time the community seems to want to talk about rising crime is when an officer is involved, Foster explained.
“We will have community forums and meetings at the churches, if a police officer kills someone,” Foster said on Monday. “You don’t see anyone having anything when it’s black-on-black crime. Nobody is saying a word.”
But Foster’s feedback was not received well.
“It’s almost a slap in the face when you’ve committed to try and help someone else be better,” said community leader Charles Robinson, who has spent several years working to end violence in one troubled neighborhood.
Will Adams, a member of anti-violence nonprofit Team Trublue, said he understands Foster’s concerns, “but to say that we’re doing nothing and that we don’t care? I know what we do, and I know what we’ve been doing, and I know what we’ll continue to do,” he said.
But Foster did not apologize for her remarks and said that she stands by them.
“Nobody’s talking about individual people,” she said. “I hate that people think this is an individualized story. This is about the community and all of us coming together.”