As a Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department officer, you can choose to work in a variety of specialized units during your career. In doing so, you’ll get the stability of staying with a trusted employer, plus the ability to keep your career fresh by switching to a new position after gaining two to three years of critical experience on patrol.
Thanks to police crime dramas, one of the field’s most well-known specialized divisions is the Homicide Unit. The members of this team are responsible for investigating any type of death in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg jurisdiction, including homicides, sudden medical deaths and public accidents.
“Our focus is to provide complete and thorough investigations for all of our victims and to be compassionate to the families and communities impacted by this crime,” says CMPD Chief Johnny Jennings.
The CMPD Homicide Unit regularly maintains a case clearance rate above the national average – an achievement the division attributes to strong relationships with the Charlotte community and the department’s in-house crime lab.
The division includes one captain, one lieutenant, four sergeants, 28 detectives and one investigative technician. Two detectives are dedicated to cold case investigations. The remaining detectives are divided into four squads each with a sergeant in charge. The unit is overseen by a major and deputy chief.
Though investigations do not always lead to arrests, prosecutions, convictions or stiff sentences, the members of CMPD’s Homicide Unit are personally invested in doing everything they can to solve new crimes and cold cases, bring criminals to justice and provide closure for victims’ loved ones.
Detective Miranda James knew this was the career path for her since she was a girl, and says putting the pieces of a homicide together and finding answers is a bit like solving a puzzle.
“Everything we do is for the victims’ families,” she says. “It doesn’t matter who the victim is, or what they’ve done in the past…everybody deserves an answer to know what happened to their loved one.”
In addition to its investigations, the Homicide Unit works in partnership with the CMPD Victim Services Unity and other agencies throughout the county and state to offer support for victims’ families.
To learn more about the Homicide Unit, watch the video below or visit the CMPD website.
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