CMPD Only In Charlotte

This is old news from back on May `6, 2023 but you likely missed it:

Apparently CMPD is not just short staffed when it comes to Officers, or dispatch. Fire and sanitation are short handed as well. An so it seems is the City of Charlotte garage, so the City has outsourced more and more motor vehicle servicing to local operations and dealerships. 

Enter Charlotte's Town and Country Ford.

What you may or may not know is that dealership will often take your car for a "road test" which might even include allowing a service tech to drive your car home for the night. 

And so it seems that a certain Town and Country Ford employee was told he could take a marked Ford Explorer home for the night. Everything was fine until Jamal Baker was noticed by a concerned citizen driving the white and blue marked unit.

Apparently Jamal doesn't fit the typical CMPD Officer profile even when off duty.

Jamal Baker

So CMPD Officers initiated a traffic stop on the vehicle and detained Baker without incident. Baker was brought back to the Metro team office to be interviewed by Detectives.

All the while Baker is saying my boss said it was ok. Well can't blame the Officers who punted the arrest and left the "suspect" with Metro decetitives to sort things out.

Baker stuck with his story and finally detectives called his boss at Town and Country Ford who confirmed that he was indeed authorized to drive the patrol unit.

Apologies all around as Baker was told he would not be charged and that's when Baker said that's cool do you mind if I get "my gun" out of the center console?

At least Baker is honest, CMPD says they found the glove box unlocked, with a handgun inside.

And so CMPD arrested 31-year-old Jamal Baker and charged him with misdemeanor carrying a concealed handgun. 

The Official CMPD Statement:

“CMPD is extremely disappointed that this incident occurred and has communicated to Town and Country Ford that this is unacceptable. CMPD relies on quality vehicles to provide exceptional police service in Charlotte and Mecklenburg County. We entrusted Town and Country Ford with the responsibility of maintaining a portion of our fleet, and it is important that this trust remains intact. A marked CMPD police vehicle should be a representation of a legitimate CMPD police officer, and we will continue to implement measures to ensure that this will not happen again.”

Baker was booked into jail on the misdemeanor of carrying a concealed weapon charge and released on a promise to appear.

UPDATE:

Baker's court date was August 22, 2023 and not having heard otherwise we would hope the ADA would have taken a voluntary dismissal.