Char-Meck FOP

06/23/2026

The suspect, Jarod Starks, is a piece of garbage.

May 13, 2026, he was charged with larceny of a motor vehicle and possession of a stolen motor vehicle.

May 15, 2026, he got a parole violation.

June 21, 2026, he was charged in this latest shooting. Reports indicate he was shooting at passing cars along N. Tryon St. when a courageous Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department officer engaged him. Starks, probably thinking he was powerful while shooting, ran and hid like a little cowardly bitch when someone gave him a taste of what he was dishing out.

This stain on society has convictions for MULTIPLE robberies (armed and common law), stealing cars, breaking into cars, possessing a gun as a convicted felon, assault w/ a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury, AND is a habitual felon.

Some soft-on-crime judge or District Attorney decided Starks could behave, but clearly, he can't.

Charlotte, y'all better start speaking up about this. Sure, crime is down, but we're sure you probably don't want to get shot at either.

Thank you to the CMPD officer who put your life in harm's way to engage this animal and to the many other officers who did not let him get away.

Here are his NC criminal history convictions: https://webapps.doc.state.nc.us/opi/viewoffender.do?method=view&offenderID=0897200&searchLastName=starks&searchFirstName=jarod&searchDOBRange=0&listurl=pagelistoffendersearchresults&listpage=1

North Carolina Fraternal Order of Police

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1Boh5WJxkg/

Four days before police say he led a standoff, jail records show he was released from custody.

06/18/2026

Parents, know where your kids are. Accountability starts at home. If a juvenile is out after curfew, parents can be charged, especially if the child is located by police or involved in criminal activity.

We are seeing far too many young people engaging in violent behavior, and the recent shooting near Romare Bearden Park involving teenagers is a reminder of how quickly things can turn tragic. Staying aware of your child’s whereabouts may be the difference between them coming home safely or becoming a victim.

Police don’t want to knock on your door late at night any more than you want them to. If that knock does come, we hope it’s to tell you your child is safe in a patrol car, not the alternative.

CMPD says they’re strictly enforcing this, and officers aren’t just penalizing kids.

06/03/2026

We’ll start by saying we’re certainly not experts on this topic. We’re simply looking at it from what seems to be a logical perspective.

Charlotte has built a reputation as a destination city. From football and soccer games to concerts, parades, festivals, and other major events, we routinely welcome tens of thousands of visitors into our community. Facilities like Bank of America Stadium alone can bring more than 75,000 people into Uptown on a single day.

With that influx of people comes increased demand on public safety. More visitors can mean more traffic crashes, more calls for service, more parking deck car break-ins, and more opportunities for criminal activity. That’s simply the reality of hosting large-scale events.

Because of that, we’ve often wondered why a portion of tourism-related revenue isn’t dedicated specifically to public safety. If the tourism industry benefits from bringing large crowds to Charlotte, it seems reasonable that some of those dollars could help support the police officers, firefighters, and emergency personnel who help keep those visitors safe.

In our view, any such funding should come with safeguards and be restricted to things like personnel, equipment, training, and other direct public safety needs.

At a time when residents are being asked to shoulder higher costs and potential tax increases, it seems worth discussing whether some of that burden could be shared by an industry that generates significant revenue and relies heavily on a safe, secure city to thrive.

The fact that this idea has become political is interesting, to say the least.

What do you think? Should a portion of tourism-related revenue be dedicated to public safety?

North Carolina Fraternal Order of Police Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department IAFF Charlotte Firefighters Charlotte Fire Department, Charlotte NC Councilwoman Dimple Ajmera City of Charlotte Government Mayor Vi Lyles Danté Anderson for Charlotte City Council - District 1 Dr. Victoria Watlington, PE, PMP Councilman JD Mazuera Arias Malcolm Graham for Charlotte City Council, District 2 Governor Josh Stein Woodson Bradley for NC - Woodson Bradley


Republican lawmakers filed a substitute bill Tuesday to stop counties from using hotel/motel tax dollars for things like public safety.

06/02/2026

We want to thank Charlotte City Council, save Councilwoman Joi Mayo, from preliminarily voting last night to provide both Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department officers and Charlotte Fire Department, Charlotte NC firefighters an equal 10% pay increase.

There was a lot of discussion during the meeting that included lowering CMPD officer’s increase to match CFD’s, as well as finagling the numbers to give an equal, but lower than 10% increase to both, such as a 7%, 8%, & 9% increase.

To Charlotte City Council members who initially leaned toward a lower pay increase, please understand this city continues growing and what we’ve experienced has already outpaced what our current public safety employees can safely manage. The talks of lowering proposed pay rates is something seen by prospective applicants and most notably, current employees. When talks appear to devalue public safety personnel’s worth despite the city’s ask of them to do more with less they will begin to look elsewhere - words matter.

We want to specifically thank Councilwoman Dimple Ajmera, Danté Anderson for Charlotte City Council - District 1, and Councilman Malcolm Graham for supporting the proposed 10% for police from the start and upholding that commitment yesterday.

https://www.wsoctv.com/news/local/charlotte-city-council-votes-give-cmpd-charlotte-firefighters-10-raises/I7QMBDUBRFHH7E43O5K6IOECYY/?tbref=hp

North Carolina Fraternal Order of Police IAFF Charlotte Firefighters



There will be pay parity for Charlotte firefighters and CMPD.

05/31/2026

Thank you to everyone who participated in our first Officer Memorial Motorcycle Ride. Even though the weather wasn’t ideal, dedicated riders still showed up for a great cause.

North Carolina Fraternal Order of Police

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — On Saturday, motorcyclists honored the lives of four law enforcement officers killed in the deadly shooting in Charlotte’s Shannon Park neighborhood. State…

05/28/2026

Please contact your state legislators and ask for their support of the HALO Law that protects first responders.

🚔 North Carolina’s first responders deserve the ability to safely do the jobs they were sworn to do.

The North Carolina Fraternal Order of Police proudly supports Senate Bill 985 — the HALO Law — which provides a reasonable safety buffer to help protect first responders from intentional interference, threats, and harassment while they are actively serving our communities.

This legislation supports safety, accountability, and constitutional rights while helping officers, firefighters, EMS personnel, and other first responders focus on protecting the public during dangerous and rapidly evolving situations.

Stand with those who stand for us. 🇺🇸💙

05/25/2026

Less that a week away from our Officer Down Memorial Ride. A 55 mile police escorted ride with lunch included at the end. $30 per bike with all proceeds benefitting our Foundation.

Sign up below👇

https://www.ncfoplodge9.com/event-details/officer-down-memorial-ride

05/20/2026

A topic that has come up during FY27 budget discussions regarding pay for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department Officers and Sergeants is how the proposed compensation changes impact employees who are still progressing through the Public Safety Pay Plan step system.

For context, CMPD and CFD employees operate under a pre-negotiated Public Safety Pay Plan that provides structured annual pay increases, commonly known as “steps.” Employees know in advance what their merit increase will be, based upon performance and awarded on their merit date.

Step 1 represents entry-level officer pay, while higher steps reflect increased experience and tenure, with SPO IV being the senior officer level (Police Sergeants currently have Steps 1–4).

Most step increases provide a 5% annual pay increase. Step 4 is unique, providing a 10% increase, which is one reason why approval of the proposed 10% FY27 increase is so important.

Under the proposed FY27 plan, Officers and Sergeants would receive the 10% adjustment while annual step increases would be frozen for FY27. Because of that, the proposal benefits both newer employees and topped-out officers the most, whose compensation otherwise changes primarily through market or cost-of-living adjustments.

However, reducing the proposed increase below 10% will create situations where some employees earn less than they otherwise would have under the current step progression system. For example, officers moving from Step 3 to Step 4, which carries a 10% increase, would actually receive a smaller raise than they would have gotten.

CMPD currently operates with approximately a 9% vacancy rate, after reaching highs of 12.8% in 2022 and lows of 8.3% in 2025. Recruiting and retaining qualified officers continues to be a challenge despite campaigns directed at addressing them.

Approving the proposed 10% increase is a meaningful step toward strengthening retention, improving recruitment, and keeping CMPD competitive with surrounding agencies by offering stronger, competitive pay.

Staffing public safety remains one of the city’s greatest challenges. Investing in public safety employees is an investment in the safety and stability of our community.

North Carolina Fraternal Order of Police Mayor Vi Lyles City of Charlotte Government Councilwoman Dimple Ajmera Dr. Victoria Watlington, PE, PMP Councilman JD Mazuera Arias

05/19/2026

We want to start this post off by thanking those on council who, earlier today, voted to advance finding ways to increase market adjustments for our Charlotte Fire Department, Charlotte NC brothers & sisters.

With that, we are now going to call out the three council members that voted to cut market increases to our Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department Officers & Sergeants. Councilwomen Lawana Mayfield, Kimberly Owens, and Renee Perkins Johnson voted to advance discussions to cut market adjustments for CMPD from 10% to 7%.

Luckily it failed but these three were willing to gut improving pay for our police officers. During this same meeting, there were discussions on how to best manage the 2027 Military Games that Charlotte is hosting.

The part some on council fail to understand is that all these large events cause strain on all city employees, especially first responders. With CMPD already being 250 +\- officers short, how are they to prepare for these large events properly? They continue to place more and more on them but when it’s time to stand with them, they fail.

These three council members just showed us that their priorities are not on public safety.

Thank you to those on council who still support first responders.

North Carolina Fraternal Order of Police IAFF Charlotte Firefighters

05/18/2026

During today’s budget adjustment meeting, Councilwoman Lawana Slack-Mayfield recommended reducing the 10% proposed market adjustment for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department Officers and Sergeants to 7%. We want to correct Councilwoman Slack-Mayfield on a topic she’s clearly not familiar with.

The councilwoman admitted that she’s biased against police, in greater support of the fire department, and then made a statement that “fire shows up first.“ While this is nowhere near accurate, we will say that maybe it’s because the Charlotte Fire Department has a very low vacancy rate and that because CMPD is about 250 officers short, there just simply aren’t enough police officers to keep up with the growth in Charlotte, justifying the need for such an important merit increase.

CMPD is the only city department where they are required to respond to keep other employees safe. There are many addresses around the city that CFD and Mecklenburg EMS will alter response unless CMPD is cross dispatched, it is called being “flagged.” CMPD has never “staged“ to wait for the arrival of CFD or medic prior to responding to a scene. But, it is common for both medic and CFD to stage down the street for CMPD officers to go in and ensure that a scene is secure - something that is absolutely necessary, but is used to dispel the lack of understanding Councilwoman Slack-Mayfield actually has on this topic.

This post is not intended to be negative against our firefighter brothers and sisters; we are hopeful that they get what they feel they deserve.

To Councilwoman Slack-Mayfield, put a little bit of that bias aside and be a council member who understands the entire picture and unites city departments together.

North Carolina Fraternal Order of Police City of Charlotte Government