CMPD Spotted Wearing Outer Carrier Vests at GOP Convention

Local Charlotte news station has a nutty over a photo of CMPD Officers wearing "outer carrier vests" as CMPD Johnnie Jennings name comes up and we are off to the races.

According to several sources nearly 100 Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police officers are at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee this week, helping to provide additional security.

Someone from Spectrum News snapped a picture of the officers wearing the vests.

The local news says that the controversy surrounding the vests first came up in the spring during budget negotiations, just weeks after four law-enforcement officers were killed in the line of duty in east Charlotte. City councilmember Tariq Bokhari led the charge for the new equipment.

CMPD Chief Johnny Jennings is not a fan of the vests, a stance the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) and others have criticized.

”These vests offer no additional ballistic protection and raise officer safety concerns,” Jennings said in an earlier statement. “It is important to note that three fallen officers wore outer vests on April 29...in addition, the outer vest has a military-style appearance that contradicts the community-oriented policing philosophy I have championed for years.”

On Wednesday, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Fraternal Order of Police posted a lengthy statement on Facebook regarding the vests.

“We are perplexed at CMPD Chief Jennings’ unstable position on load-bearing vests,” the statement read in part. “Chief Jennings has relentlessly spoken about how unsafe and unprofessional they are.”

According to the FOP, most CMPD units – including all tactical units – wear the vests, but not patrol officers.

The complete text of the FOP FaceBook post:

Earlier this week Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department sent close to one hundred officers to Milwaukee, WI to help with security for the Republican National Convention. We are proud to have members willing to spend time away from their families to be there. 

While we are proud of these men and women, we are perplexed at CMPD Chief Jennings’ unstable position on load-bearing vests. Chief Jennings has relentlessly spoken about how unsafe and unprofessional they are. 

Despite him deeming these vests unsafe, what are the nearly one hundred CMPD officers in Milwaukee wearing right now?  You guessed it, load-bearing vests.  Every city leader needs to ask him, “Chief Jennings, why are you risking the lives of your officers?”

Second, he says that load-bearing vests are unprofessional, saying they have “a military-style appearance that contradicts the community-oriented policing philosophy” he has “championed for years.”  Again, one should ask – if it is militaristic, why does he let any officer wear these vests, and why would he send nearly one hundred of his officers to Milwaukee, WI while displaying Charlotte’s “soldiers” in front of a national lens?

Just last Friday Chief Jennings emailed CMPD saying he knows that officers will represent themselves in Milwaukee with the utmost professionalism.  How can they do that while wearing a "military-style" uniform he champions against?  What makes this even better is that his email was accompanied by a photo of the Chief standing in front of these officers AS THEY WERE WEARING THEIR LOAD-BEARING VESTS.  You cannot make this up!

What you may not know is that most CMPD units, and all tactical units, currently wear load-bearing vests despite him saying they are unsafe and unprofessional, Charlotte’s Police Chief explicitly denies them for the officers who are the first line of defense – Patrol Officers.  What does Chief Jennings have against his patrol officers?  This is their number one request and despite proven data that they reduce hip and back pain, he makes them suffer, why?

When the Chief asks for additional patrols at his lake house, who does it – patrol officers.  When personnel pulls are required to work large city events, who does it impact the most – patrol officers. Yet, when patrol officers ask him for ONE thing to better themselves, he tells them no.

From all his defiance and insipid excuses, there is one thing his patrol officers think; that he couldn’t care less about them.  Chief Jennings says that perception is reality.  His personal choice against this vest is due to his perception of them, but the reality is that his officers are broken; that is their reality, it is their pain, their emotions, and their frustration.

Officers must be broken and apply for an ADA medical waiver to get a load-bearing vest to better themselves and guess what CMPD decided to do?  They put unreasonable hurdles in the way, including meetings with HR, taking photographs of officers applying for ADA waivers, taking an hours-long training block on the proper wearing of the ADA-approved vest as an HR representative and TWO Captains watch them, followed by an intense obstacle course they must run through.  Intimidation much? 

No other officers we have spoken to wearing non-ADA load-bearing vests went through this in-depth process.  For any ADA-specialized attorneys on this thread, does this sound like we have a case we can discuss further? Please let us know, and we will be glad to discuss more details with you for the betterment of our members.

To Chief Jennings, your bike officers wear an amazing uniform that they love, know is comfortable, alleviates many of their pain-related concerns, looks professional, and is one you CURRENTLY allow them to wear.  It has been field-tested and worn since Charlotte hosted the RNC in 2020.  Why are we wasting taxpayer money buying new uniforms for ADA when there is one we know already works?  The only reason we can think of is that it’s to single out and shame a certain group of officers by distinguishing those with ADA waivers from those without. 

Why won’t you let all officers benefit from the load-bearing vest we know works and approve them department-wide?  Stop being selfish and making excuses. This is all on you.

To the City Manager, City Council, and Charlotte Citizens is this being good stewards of taxpayer dollars?