CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The trial of teenager charged with killing two brothers started in Charlotte on Monday.
After Andrea Long’s two sons were killed more than three years ago, just two weeks after Police Chief Rodney Monroe took the position, she started a homicide support group, and urged Monroe to make changes in the city.
“I really was demanding that this city stand up and take accountable for the crime that we let go on here” said Long.
Since those two killings, Monroe disbanded some plainclothes units in the Police Department, placed more officers on the streets, and gave more resources to every murder investigation.
“I knew coming in these aren't easy decisions ... but the sooner we were able to implement those decisions the sooner we'd see the benefit of those decisions,” Monroe said.
Numbers suggest that his changes have been working.
During the three years prior to Monroe becoming police chief, Charlotte had 246 homicides, compared to175 homicides that have occurred in the three years since his induction.
Monroe said for him personally, this was the biggest positive outcome.
At the end of all of this, Long can say that this is just the beginning.
“I think we pulled together, and we made a difference in this community. We really did,” said Long.
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