Annual Report for 2007 - Charlotte-Mecklenburg County

20
Officers Give Back
From sports teams, scout troops and band boosters to animal rescues, soup kitchens and foreign missions,
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police employees are involved in their communities. Hundreds of CMPD employees volunteer.
They teach children to read, sing and play all kinds of sports. They raise money, build houses and help provide shelter
for the poor. They deliver food. They fish. They make time for others.
Arson Detective Takes Kids Outside
Detective Keith Caviness was working as a bicycle officer in
2000 when he started taking inner-city kids mountain
biking on the weekends.
At first, Caviness was fixing unclaimed bicycles from
Property Control and Evidence for the trips.
Now his program is part of the national Trips for Kids
organization. Its kids ride top-of-the-line mountain bikes
donated by businesses and individuals in the area.
“I grew up as a country boy, doing everything I could
outside. I like to hunt, fish, camp, hike and bike,” said
Caviness, who is assigned to the Arson Task Force. “A lot
of kids in Charlotte never really had a chance to experience
being in the woods. But all kids like to ride bicycles.”
Caviness estimates that more than 200 Charlotte kids,
mostly middle school age, have been on Trips for Kids
outings. They mostly ride and picnic at mountain biking
parks in Charlotte and Davidson.
They talk about the experience after the ride. “They usually
say they didn’t think they’d be able to do the hill,”
Caviness said. That’s when he sneaks in the lesson for the
day: Believe in yourself.
Caviness said his father instilled in him the responsibility to
do what is right and give back to his community. After he
earned his master’s degree in May 2007, he made a
promise to himself that he’d use the hours he used to
spend at school to volunteer. Since then, he’s become a
mentor to four high school students and a Big Brother to a
10-year-old boy.
http://www.tripsforkidscharlotte.org
Arson Detective Keith Caviness helped create the Charlotte chapter of Trips For Kids. He also volunteers with Big Brothers Big Sisters.
Chief’s Award for Excellence in Policing
Officer Charles Jeremiah Blow, Officer Michael Retort, Officer Todd Watson
This team led a public education campaign about the dangers of illegal window tint on vehicles and increased enforcement of window-tinting
laws. The team also has worked with state legislators who are considering whether to strengthen the laws.