FOP concerned Meck County DA not prosecuting low-level drug offenses

MECKLENBURG COUNTY, N.C. — Mecklenburg County’s district attorney will not prosecute low-level drug offenses, and now the Fraternal Order of Police is questioning that decision.

“It’s kind of setting this double standard where officers have to decide to practice law, which is completely against their oath,” said FOP spokesperson Yolian Ortiz.

For more than 10 months, county courtrooms have been practically empty as trials have all but ground to a halt. But crime certainly hasn’t stopped and police haven’t stopped making arrests, which is why the local FOP is calling out the district attorney’s decision not to prosecute some low-level drug offenders.

Ortiz said it sends a dangerous message.

“If you tell the whole public that we are not going to charge them for drugs, then they’re going to get away with it when a lot of these drug cases that we have are actually tied into violent crime in Charlotte,” Ortiz said.

On Thursday, Spencer Merriweather said that looking at court delays now of five years or more, he chose to focus on violent crime and let those minor drug cases go.

“I know there was going to be some frustrations,” Merriweather said. “If there’s a nexus of violence, you can be sure that the district attorney’s office is going to prioritize that case.”

And some said the COVID-19 lockdown has forced a decision that’s long overdue.

“There are more reasons than COVID to do this,” said public defender Eddie Thomas.

He said that low-level drug use is a public health issue and not a criminal justice issue, and that taking those offenders out of the courtroom is best in the long run.

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“What we’re just hoping for is that this continues to go beyond COVID,” Thomas said.

Even with hundreds of drug cases off the dockets, it could take more than five years for the courtrooms to catch up with the delays caused by the COVID-19 lockdown.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police said they’ve been assured the DA will prioritize drug cases associated with violence and others involving drug sales and trafficking.

The department said they have not changed their enforcement strategy, and continue to identify alternative solutions to arrests in drug possession cases.

Cox Media Group