UPTOWN CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation wants residents to feel safer in Uptown parks. The County informed WCCB Charlotte’s Zane Cina that the Park and Rec. Commission is looking at changes to security for several parks. In a recent Commission meeting, Park and Rec off icials pitched the idea of hiring armed security guards to patrol Romare Bearden park. They also proposed guards for First and Fourth Ward parks and part of the Little Sugar Creek Greenway. A Mecklenburg County spokesperson confirmed in an that park security is under review, but specific details will not be released until those plans are finalized. The spokesperson added that parks are currently monitored by safety patrols. WCCB did not spot any of those patrols at Romare Bearden Friday. The Uptown park did have a CMPD security tower with cameras on it. Michael Wylie lives in Uptown and feels changes to security are desperately needed. “There’s been multiple shootings around here,” Wylie said. Wylie remembered New Years Eve of 2024 when, Daevion Crawford was arrested for shooting five people at Romare Bearden, just a short walk from where Wylie lives. Wylie hoped that incident would prompt CMPD to patrol the area more often, but he says that’s not the response he’s seen. “Panthers game going on, they’re here or something like that,” Wylie said. “But on a nightly basis, no, not really.” WCCB reached out to CMPD through email to ask how often the department patrols the area. It was also asked if CMPD is aware of the security changes being reviewed by the County. No response has been given by the department yet. ...read more read less