Wednesday, June 21, 2017

Zachary Finch Charlotte's 43rd Homicide Victim

The mantra of CMPD is always the same "Not an act of random violence". And the case of Zachary Finch received the same treatment in the hours that followed.

Except that in this case CMPD admitted, that it could have happened to anyone. This case remains open and leads are apparently scarce. Surprising since it happened at 1:30 in the afternoon. Then again in the hood nobody ever sees nothin.


More details from the local paper:


The brother of a man killed in Charlotte this week faced cameras Tuesday, nearly breaking down as he begged the public for any information on his brother’s death, which is still unsolved.

Zachary Finch, 21, died Sunday. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police refused to directly connect his death to a sale made through Craigslist or a similar site, but other news outlets have reported that he was meeting someone to complete an online sale.

CMPD Sgt. Susan Manassah said Finch was engaged in a legal activity, but she wouldn’t provide more details.

In her advice about how to stay safe, Manassah focused on in-person meetings that follow a digital connection through a buying and selling service such as Craigslist or a dating app.

She said to meet in a public place where both parties feel comfortable, and to cancel the meeting if the other person isn’t willing to meet somewhere safe. Like other police departments, CMPD welcomes using the parking lots of police stations for the meetings.

“Tell people where you’re going, what it is you’re doing,” Manassah said. “If it’s too good to be true, then it’s not real.”

Finch’s older brother Nicholas called him loving and bubbly – a team player devoted to his baseball team at Kentucky’s University of the Cumberlands, where he pitched on a full scholarship.

“He always motivated everyone around him,” his brother said.

Finch was studying public health, with one year left to go before graduation.

Finch’s parents moved to the Charlotte area from south Florida a couple of years ago, and their three children attended college in different states. The family was planning to get together for the first time in months for the Fourth of July.

Nicholas Finch refused to comment on why his brother had come to the west Charlotte apartment complex where he was shot on Sunday.

Manassah called Charlotte’s rising homicide rate “senseless,” and said what happened to Finch could have happened to anyone.

She said police are especially eager to gather information from any possible witnesses because Finch was shot at about 1:30 on a Sunday afternoon.

“There’s windows, there’s parks, there’s kids playing. People were outside,” she said.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

The violence has become alarming and this isn't even the crack years when Charlotte murders jumped. The DA office is an embarrassment and has done a great deal to drive up the violent crime numbers. They dismiss everything and put these people back on the street. The "Ferguson" effects are rampant through out CMPD. They are trying to engage the community part that cares. But the gun violence is out of control. At press time, you can now add 3 more murders from overnight. We currently sit at 46 and on pace for 100 in 2017.

Anonymous said...

After reading about the three homicides that occurred last night, on two different sites, I ran across an article about "Project Avalanche." Part of the article talks about beefing up patrols by bringing in officers from areas with less crime.

"The new crime fighting strategy is called Project Avalanche. Police began the program in January after half of the city's homicides were concentrated in the north Charlotte area.

Officers beefed up their patrols by bringing in extra officers from other neighborhoods where there isn't as much violent crime.

Channel 9 checked on the program's progress in April and found that in the first 11 weeks, police said they saw an 86 percent drop in violent crime."

Police can saturate an area short term, but it cannot be maintained long term.

After the homicides of last night, maybe Channel 9 needs to report an update on the "drop in crime."

Also, maybe the leadership of CMPD needs to go back and read again "The Kansas City Preventative Patrol Experiment."

http://www.wsoctv.com/news/local/cmpd-2-shot-killed-in-north-charlotte/536590720

https://www.policefoundation.org/projects/the-kansas-city-preventive-patrol-experiment/?gclid=CKnaroqUz9QCFUo2gQod25IC1A

Anonymous said...

Doesn't surprise me... The general hate towards police by certain segments of the population has motivated officers to avoid these "Fragile" neighborhoods. It doesn't help that our current administration has added fuel to the fire by holding hands with them and singing Swing Low Sweet Chariot. Most officers are avoiding any proactive enforcement for fear of being labeled a profiling racist. When the department creates an environment where hibernating and eating doughnuts is more rewarding than doing police work then you cannot be shocked by the resulting crime numbers. Homicide is going to be clocking plenty of overtime this summer investigating these "Not random acts of violence"....

Anonymous said...

Chief Putney has essentially labeled his officers racists by going into these communities and saying that he cannot control the hearts of his people. Any good leader can win the hearts and minds of their people and thereby gain their respect. His rhetoric has already stripped him of that.

Anonymous said...

Proactive policing is dead. Let Charlotte burn.....Baltimore south.

Anonymous said...

When will people learn, you can't prevent homicides!!! The rise in homicides is a national trend not specific to Charlotte. Local, state and federal governments need to open their eyes. Time to spend more money on Policing and fix the broken justice system, stop shipping money out of this country. We need to fix our problems first.

Anonymous said...

Homicides were over 100/ year for a while. We dropped to an amazing low for a jurisdiction our size and only way was up from there. That being said Putney's schizophrenic leadership style has cops never knowing what's expected or not and one day he says he wishes he did something else beside become a cop and he sees cops are racist to he supports the hard working dilligent cops. His inconsistent and rash leadership style has gutted morale and productivity with it.