CHARLOTTE — The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department is making changes to its license-plate-reader policies more than a year after officers wrongfully detained a Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools teacher in June 2021.
At the time, police were looking for an attempted murder suspect with a similar name as second-grade teacher Jasmine Horne. However, police put Horne’s name in the license-plate-reader system and officers found her parked in front of her home.
Authorities then approached Horne at gunpoint, put her in handcuffs and searched her.
“I’m a school teacher. I don’t understand what’s going on,” Horne could be heard saying in body camera video.
Later, police said they had the wrong information and the wrong person.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE:
- Review board says CMS teacher was wrongfully detained by CMPD officers
- CMPD body cam video shows officers mistakenly handcuff CMS teacher at gunpoint
- ‘I was ambushed’: CMS teacher says CMPD mistook her for suspect, pointed gun at her
Five months ago, the Citizens Review Board ruled that CMPD Chief Johnny Jennings was wrong to exonerate the officers involved. The board outlined six recommendations for CMPD, including issuing disciplinary action.
The department responded and said that’s not applicable in the case, but CMPD said it does plan to change its license-plate-reader policies.
Going forward, officers will only put a suspect’s name into the system once they have positive identification. They’ll verify information from the system every 12 hours, instead of every 24 hours, to ensure they have the most current information.
The department will also enhance its training for using the license-plate-reader system and have an outside agency review its protocols.
“These changes are like a slap in the face, because it’s not really a change,” Horne said Monday. “It’s more of a backtrack of this was what we should have done.”
One of the recommendations from the Citizens Review Board was for the chief to discipline the officers involved.
CMPD responded by saying that is not possible because the officers did not violate any policy or the law.
“I don’t feel like the procedures were followed the correct way,” Horne said.
CMPD said officers were searching for a stabbing suspect when they were led to Horne after a hit on a license-plate reader.
“My question is, why wasn’t the name spelled out before it was put into the system?” Horne said.
CMPD said it has identified additional areas of improvement after looking into Horne’s incident.
They said the victim and witness knew each other so a photo could have been used to verify the suspect before that information was entered into the license-plate reader, which caused led to officers going to Horne’s door.
“Well, that’s common procedure,” Horne said. “How is something that basic, looking at a photo before you pull somebody over -- how is that an amendment?” Horne said.
Read CMPD’s full response to the Citizen’s Review Board recommendations below:
“CMPD Action: Obtain positive identification of the accused prior to entering info into LPR: In this case, the officers on the initial scene received a name from the victim and witness. The information entered into the LPR was developed from the name provided. In cases where a victim or witness is familiar with the suspect, the procedures stated in North Carolina General Statute Section 15A-284.52 allow officers to show the individual a single photo in order to confirm the identity of the alleged suspect. Here, the victim and witness knew the suspect so a single photo could have been shown to provide a positive identification prior to entering information into the LPR. This practice will be outlined separately in Directive 500-009 Eyewitness Identification procedures. This directive discusses procedures for conducting photo lineups, show ups and other identification procedures.
“CMPD Action: Verify LPR entries more frequently: CMPD is amending its Standard Operating Procedure for manual LPR entry reviews to be conducted at least every 12 hours as opposed to every 24 hours to ensure information is current, accurate and consistent with the National Crime information Center (NCIC).
“CMPD Action: Enhance process awareness and additional training: CMPD’s Real Time Crime Center reviewed its operator guidelines in reference to license plate readers (LPR) and identified opportunities to enhance awareness for the entry and removal process as well as the development of additional training including:
- “Roll call training regarding the necessity of prompt removal from NCIC when vehicles are located.
- “Enhanced training for patrol officers and detectives to incorporate best practices for entry and removal of felony vehicles into NCIC.
- “Verifying vehicles in NCIC when practical before initiating a stop.
“CMPD Action: Outside agency review of LPR practices: The Strategic Policy Unit will conduct an outside agency review of best practices pertaining to license plate readers and the internal sharing of information.”
(WATCH BELOW: Citizens Review Board votes in favor of CMS teacher mistakenly handcuffed by CMPD officers)
©2022 Cox Media Group
