Organization keeps pushing for Mecklenburg greenway cameras following man exposing himself to runner

Jul 25, 2023

by: Will Lewis

Posted: Aug 1, 2023 / 06:14 PM EDT

Updated: Aug 2, 2023 / 02:10 PM EDT

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — When you park your car at McAlpine Creek Park, your car is under the watchful eye of a camera system, and people wonder why the same system is not on the greenway.

“One of the suggestions that we did have were either solar panel call-back boxes or solar panel cameras,” said Lisa Landrum, founder of Forward Motion CLT, and member of the Run CLT Run community support group.

Landrum says the Charlotte City Council and Mecklenburg County commissioners are always respectful and listen to Run CLT Run, but for everyone out on the greenway, thinks solar-powered cameras could show the municipal bodies are doing a little more than listening.

So far police have not made any arrests after a woman was approached by a man exposing himself and then touching her inappropriately in the part of the greenway system near the 11800 block of Johnston Road.

“It would be very nice to have those cameras set up at least in the very high traffic areas of the greenway,” adds Landrum. “The Four Mile Creek Greenway attack that just happened recently happened at 4 o’clock on a Saturday morning, and that is a very popular time for runners to go run.”

Mecklenburg Parks and Recreation told Queen City News it is working to install cameras at all trailhead parking lots.

“We do not install cameras on greenways since they are mostly located in flood plains,” Parks and Recreation said. “It addition, heavy tree canopy on our greenways makes the solar option not very effective to keep sufficient battery levels to operate the camera system.

The company representative for Sun Surveillance, based in Spartanburg, South Carolina, says there have been systems built for other parks departments across the nation.

The company website has pictures of camera systems at golf courses, lakes and other trails.

Run groups say they will continue to meet because they don’t have all the answers, but at each meeting they look for another solution to a problem facing a lot of county residents.

“Our hope is to just keep the attention on it, and we have seen great things,” said Landrum. “We’ve seen an increased police presence on greenways, on trails. So, I do know it’s important for them. The safety of our citizens is important.”

Run CLT Run will have another safety meeting on Sept. 27.

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