First Night Charlotte Report
First Night Charlotte was a success and had an estimated 12,500 people in attendance to
celebrate the New Year. According to the event’s organizers, Charlotte Center City Partners,
the move to Romare Bearden Park went smoothly and was well received by attendees.
Among those in attendance were City Manager Ron Carlee, Mayor Pro Tem Michael Barnes,
CMPD Chief Rodney Monroe, CFD Chief Jon Hannan and Director of Mecklenburg County
Park and Recreation Jim Garges.
City Services Updates
CharMeck 311
CharMeck 311 extended hours of operation until 1:00 a.m. New Year’s Day. Call volume was
light, approximately 10% less than New Year’s Eve 2012. Types of calls included noise
complaints, event information and transfers to 911.
Public Safety
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD)
The goal of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department during the New Year’s celebration
was to ensure that people had a safe environment in which to celebrate the holiday,
whether they were in the center city or neighborhoods throughout our jurisdiction.
The operations plan for New Year’s Eve was successfully implemented. Partnerships with
the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office, the Charlotte Fire Department and MEDIC in
particular provided key support for the success of this operation.
CMPD officers with the Central Division, Civil Emergency Unit and other specialized units,
were deployed in the center city area. Their efforts were coordinated from the CMPD
command center. All other patrol divisions were fully staffed to respond to an expected
increase in calls for service on New Year’s Eve and the early hours of New Year’s Day.
There were no reported significant events that occurred in the uptown area or other twelve
patrol divisions.
Arrests:
•
5 adults were arrested in the Center City area during operational hours of the CMPD
command center between 6:00 p.m. on 12/31/2013 through 2:00 a.m. on
01/01/2014. Four were charged with intoxication and disruptive and one was
charged with trespassing.
•
3 juveniles were arrested. 2 of the juveniles were cited for curfew violations. 1
juvenile was charged with disorderly conduct and assault on an officer.
*The officer assaulted did not sustain serious physical injury.
MEDIC Tuesday, December 31: Medic responded to six calls within the First Night event area
resulting in four transports to area hospitals. One patient was transported with injuries
described as potentially life threatening. Three patients were transported with non-life
threatening injuries.
Wednesday, January 1: Medic responded to a total of seven calls inside the First Night
event area. Those calls resulted in six transports to area hospitals. All patients were
transported with non-life threatening injuries.
CATS
LYNX Blue Line Ridership
Ridership numbers indicate 19,734 riders were served. This is a 26 percent increase in
ridership over a regular Tuesday night.
Bus Operations
Bus Operations with the assistance of CMPD managed the traffic flow in and out of the
transit center. The change in the First Night venue this year meant bus operations operated
with little impact from road closures.
Charlotte Department of Transportation (CDOT)
CDOT implemented traffic control plans for large festival Uptown.
Solid Waste Services (SWS)
In preparation of the New Year’s Eve Celebration in Uptown Charlotte, City Solid Waste
Services delivered a large list of barricades at predetermined intersections for traffic control
along with an emergency call barricade truck on standby at the transit center to anticipate a
quick deployment without delay. At the intersection of Tryon and Trade Street, SWS
delivered 110 bike racks to block access to the buildings and parks at the request of CMPD.
Staffing was increased to provide litter control on the sidewalks and street sweeping on the
streets due to the anticipated increase in pedestrian and vehicular traffic.
In addition, SWS teamed with Mecklenburg County providing 2 collection vehicles for
garbage and recycling at Romare Bearden Park. Over the course of the night, SWS crews
serviced the 108 public refuse containers and 80 recycling containers 2 times during
evening. The Big Belly receptacles did not require service because they were not in the high
pedestrian traffic areas for this event.
Mecklenburg County Updates
Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation worked with Charlotte Center City Partners to
organize and host the event.