Posted on Tue, May. 13, 2008

The Charlotte City Council voted Monday to approve a $4.8 million plan to boost efforts to fight crime.

The 7-4 vote came after a long, wide-ranging debate over whether the proposal was an appropriate response to city residents' anxiety over a spike in crime. The approved motion added $2 million to the $1 million fund for courthouse technology improvements that City Manager Curt Walton recommended last month.

The council hopes to help clear what law enforcement officials see as a logjam in the criminal justice system. Although the city is not responsible for funding the court system, council members who voted for the measure see it as a way to get more criminals off the streets.

The council also agreed to ask for contributions to the effort from the state, county and area municipalities.

Council members Warren Turner, Edwin Peacock, John Lassiter, Anthony Foxx, Nancy Carter, Warren Cooksey and Andy Dulin supported the motion.

"This is a massive issue," Foxx said. "We're talking about citizens who are facing crime every day."

Members James Mitchell, Susan Burgess, Michael Barnes and Patsy Kinsey opposed the motion. Burgess said she was comfortable with Walton's original recommendations, but said the council did not have enough information about the justice system problems to justify the additional $2 million.

"We don't know what that's going to buy," Burgess said. "This is just sort of a reaction to the spike in crime we've seen in the last month."

Mecklenburg County District Attorney Peter Gilchrist told the council Monday that even though the police department has sophisticated crime-tracking software, his office works with an archaic paper filing system.

"We are carrying so many physical files across the street that we've got to put them in hand carts," Gilchrist said. He said his office has banks of filing cabinets. "It's absolutely insane that we're doing business this way."

Some council members -- and even Gilchrist -- balked at committing city money to a state-run court system, however.

Gilchrist said he has been talking to the state about technology improvements but had no resolution.

"Let's see whether the state's going to do it," Gilchrist said. "If they can't do this on a timely basis, I'm going to come back to the city and the county and say, `Let's see what we can do locally.' "

The council's vote commits $1.8 million in this and next year's budget. The $3 million reserve for court technology is not guaranteed; if any is spent, the council said, it will require plans with performance measures.

The $1.8 million would go toward:

• Electronic monitoring devices; $495,121, from current year savings. Would pay for 100 additional devices and three police officers.

• Staffing for the district attorney's office; $375,000, from current year savings. Would pay for two assistant district attorneys and three clerical positions.

• Crime Lab staffing; $435,000, from fiscal 2009 budget. Would pay for five positions.

• 911 Communications Center; $456,000, from fiscal 2009 budget. Would pay for eight positions.