CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney has expressed major concerns about letting violent criminals back on the street. Those criminals were ordered to wear ankle monitors.
[CMPD chief addresses repeat offenders wearing ankle monitors]
“I just want to keep giving you examples, so you see the gravity of what we're up against,” Putney said.
There are 400 people on the department’s ankle-monitoring system and this year, 73 of them have cut their device off. Fifteen of those people are on the run.
“But it’s scary. I’m not going to lie. It’s scary,” said Teresa Deal Hunt, an apartment manager.
Hunt encountered Adam Mercado, who had a gun, after he broke into her west Charlotte office in December.
Mercado has a lengthy criminal record and has spent time in prison for breaking and entering.
Two months after he was arrested for breaking into Hunt’s office, he was released from jail on bond and ordered to wear an ankle monitor, but he cut it off, police said.
“What amazes me is, what kind of a judge could sit there and look at this man's record and think that he's trustworthy enough to put an ankle-monitoring bracelet on him,” Hunt said. “Like that is going to protect somebody.”
Putney, Mecklenburg County's district attorney and local judges will be discussing that and other issues at a public forum next week.
“We’re going to continue this conversation about holding our violent offenders responsible,” Putney said.
After what happened in December, Hunt isn't taking chances.
“From that moment on, I started locking this front door,” Hunt said. “My boss told me to lock it and (I’m) carrying a gun because I've had this gun for a long time. I've never carried it, but I carry it now.”
Mercado is back in jail.
The public forum will be held from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Aug. 1 at Queens University.
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