January 5, 2009

The Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Police Department has asked CMPD and 92 other police agencies to provide assistance with security during the 2009 Inauguration parade, Inaugural balls, and associated events on January 20, 2009.

CMPD will be sending approximately 80 police officers from its Civil Emergency Unit (CEU) to Washington. The officers will leave Charlotte on January 18 and return on January 21.  The federal government will reimburse the salaries, overtime, and related expenses for these CMPD officers. In 2005, we responded to a similar request by sending 80 CEU officers.

A Memorandum of Understanding was negotiated between the federal government, the Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police Department, and CMPD on November 1, 2008.  Under that agreement, the CMPD officers will be deputized as federal marshals.

CMPD has trained and equipped over 300 of its officers as a force to deal with civil emergencies, domestic terrorism and other incidents where large scale disorder is a potential issue. CMPD is one of the few departments in the country to offer that extensive training to its officers. Participating in the Inaugural events is an excellent opportunity for these officers to apply their training and gain more experience in dealing with large crowds and protesters. It also establishes a valuable partnership should our need for mutual aid arise in the future.

CMPD will make adjustments to its manpower deployment in order to minimize the impact on its staffing levels for the four days the officers are out of the city. That adjustment could result in redeployment of specialized resources or restriction of leave time. 

The Metropolitan Police Department has based their request on information from across the country that is may be the largest public turnout for a Presedential Inauguration in America's history.