CHARLOTTE — Two top aides to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department Chief Johnny Jennings advised what should be in a complaint against former Charlotte City Councilman Tariq Bokhari. Channel 9 obtained emails sent from the personal email accounts of Major Brad Koch, the assistant to the Chief, and Sandy Vastola, the Public Affairs Division Bureau Commander.
Channel 9 first reported the ethics complaint’s existence last Friday. The complaint was filed in January by NAACP President Rev. Corine Mack and was dismissed by interim city attorney Anthony Fox a short time later. The complaint centered around comments and actions taken by former Councilman Bokhari during the debate over outer carrier vests. Bokhari resigned from Charlotte City Council last month to take the number two position at the Federal Transit Administration.
Vastola sent Major Koch an email on (Tuesday) Aug. 27. The time on the email is listed as 5:17:33 p.m. GMT+2, which is 11:17:33 a.m. EST.
“Hey ... I would have her focus on Tariq and the FOP in their official capacities taking this on as a crusade against the chief ... with personal and major threats to force him to retire/get fired. And forgetting that the operational decisions of this department rest with the chief of police. Not bullies who try to bully him into making decisions that may not be in accordance with his desires. Threats against his home by disclosing where he lives --- stating publicly that he forced officers to check his home,” the email said. “Bokhari tried to claim that he was doing this as a citizen and not in his official capacity. He has been in his official capacity the entire time. He has been threatening the chief the entire time.”
Breaking: Two top aides for CMPD Chief Johnny Jennings advised NAACP President Corine Mack on an ethics complaint against Charlotte City Councilman Tariq Bokhari. The two aides used their personal emails and met with Mack in person.
— Joe Bruno (@JoeBrunoWSOC9) May 5, 2025
This comes as Charlotte City Council… pic.twitter.com/HOGdSSea8g
Vastola referenced a July 17 Fraternal Order of Police post and Bokhari’s Shield The Blue website.
Major Koch forwarded Vastola’s email to Corine Mack the next day. The time on the email is listed as 11:02 a.m. Major Koch said he was out of the country for the rest of the week.
“Reverend Mack, sorry for the delay in getting this to you… See the below for context. Please let me know if you have any questions,” the email stated.
Major Koch signed the email, “Yours in confidence.”
Rev. Mack tells Channel 9 she reached out to CMPD first as she was trying to learn more about the outer carrier vest debate and former Councilman Bokhari. She told Channel 9 she met with Major Koch and Vastola once in person, “closer to the holidays.”
She filed the complaint on Jan. 10. She says the delay in filing the complaint was due to her waiting on messages from a public records request to be produced between the chief and Bokhari.
The ethics complaint includes sentences that were similar, and at times identical, to the email forwarded to Rev. Mack.
The ethics complaint read, in part, “Tariq and the FOP in their official capacities began a crusade against the chief ... with personal and major threats to force him to retire/get fired.”
It went on to say, “There were threats against his home by disclosing where he lives … Tariq stated publicly that he forced officers to check his home.”
Reached by phone, Vastola said she “had no involvement” with crafting the complaint. She said she talked with Rev. Mack about concerns Rev. Mack had about Councilman Bokhari. She described her role as answering questions.
She did not comment on why she and Major Koch used their personal emails and did not answer follow-up questions about her city and personal email addresses.
Major Koch did not respond to a request for comment. CMPD Chief Johnny Jennings also did not respond to an email seeking comment. Bokhari did not respond to a request for comment.
Despite the subject matter and use of personal email, a spokesperson for the city of Charlotte said Vastola and Koch did not violate city policy.
“City personnel rules and regulations recognizes each employee’s constitutional right to join or affiliate with political organizations, attend political meetings, and advocate and support political principles and policies. State laws recognize that every employee has the constitutional right to engage in free speech and association,” spokesperson Jason Schneider said. “City personnel rules prohibit city employees from “engaging in any political activity while on duty” and “may not use any supplies or equipment owned by the City … for any other political purposes.”
Schneider says the city cannot control Koch and Vastola’s communication on private emails.
He says City Manager Marcus Jones and Jennings were unaware of Koch and Vastola’s efforts.
Schneider says he shared the emails with Human Resources and HR determined no violation occurred and there won’t be further investigation.
“Nether in policy nor in law is there justification to conduct an investigation and expend additional city funds or resources related to employees’ protected conduct,” he said.
Chief vs City:
The intense debate over outer carrier vests also prompted CMPD Chief Johnny Jennings to consider legal action against the city, Channel 9 previously reported citing sources.
A vote to settle with Chief Jennings failed last week, 5-2. However, it takes 6 votes to pass anything. So had one more member voted in favor, Charlotte City Council would have settled.
Sources say Mayor Vi Lyles may bring up the topic again in a closed session Monday night.
Sources familiar with Jennings’ feelings say he believes he was unfairly targeted and suffered reputational damage.
The contentious debate publicly started after the ambush on Galway Drive that left four officers dead. During budget adjustments last May, Bokhari, who said he had been talking to officers about outer carrier vests for more than two years, requested that the city add purchasing outer carrier vests to its budget.
Charlotte City Council voted to advance the proposal for budget consideration.
While Bokhari maintained the outer carrier vests were popular with the rank-and-file, Jennings was hesitant because in part of their militarized look. During budget straw votes, Bokhari retracted his motion for outer carrier vest funding, in part, so council wouldn’t have to take a vote for or against the chief’s position on the issue.
But during that meeting, Bokhari reiterated his passion for the topic and said he would double down on finding $500,000 for the purchase of the vests “as an individual citizen.”
During the vote on the budget last June, Bokhari once again said he was “taking off his councilman hat” to “speak to the community as a citizen.” He said he could not “articulate his level of disappointment that the city wasn’t able to secure funding for outer carrier vests in the budget cycle.” He said he was not giving up and would be “activating a private campaign to get them $500,000 for outer carrier vests.”
Bokhari then launched ShieldTheBlue.org. The website remains active. The Charlotte Mecklenburg Fraternal Order of Police supported Bokhari’s effort. Less than two months after the launch of Shield The Blue, Jennings reversed his stance on the vests. All CMPD officers can apply to wear them as a preventive measure.
But the debate did not end there. Channel 9 has learned that in January, NAACP President Corine Mack filed an ethics complaint against Bokhari. News of the complaint has not been previously reported. Rev. Mack confirmed the complaint and its findings to Channel 9.
The complaint alleged “Tariq and the FOP in their official capacities began a crusade against the chief with personal and major threats to force him to retire/get fired.” It alleged “Tariq’s attempts to strong-arm Chief Jennings into making decisions that may not be in accordance with his desires regarding vests and personnel matters is a direct violation of the ethics policy.”
The complaint alleged “insidious language” on Shield The Blue’s website.
Attached to the complaint were two screenshots. The first screenshot was the “here’s what I need you to do” section. The second screenshot included in the complaint questioned, “What does Chief Jennings have against his patrol officers? This is their number one request and despite proven data, he makes them suffer. Why?” The screenshot also says, “when the chief asks for additional patrols at his lake house, who does it? Patrol officers.”
WFAE obtained text messages between Councilman Bokhari and Chief Jennings. In one text, Councilman Bokhari threatened to “cripple the legacy” of the police chief over the issue.
Vastola vs FOP
In addition to the ethics complaint and potential litigation from Jennings, Vastola sued the Charlotte Mecklenburg Fraternal Order of Police and its president, Daniel Redford, for defamation. The lawsuit was filed on Oct. 30, 2024. The lawsuit centered around comments she claims Redford made about her because of her response to a story pursued by another Charlotte TV outlet. She alleged Redford’s comments were false and defamatory. A judge dismissed her case.
Court records show Vastola filed an appeal last week.
The FOP cited the ongoing litigation for being limited in its comment about the ethics complaint, but the FOP did say, “The use of personal emails is concerning.” It called for Charlotte City Manager Marcus Jones to hold everyone involved in the matter accountable.
The FOP also says CMPD suspended and transferred its president, Redford, due to statements the organization made against CMPD.
Statement from FOP:
“The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge #9, has been made aware of emails between CMPD Public Affairs Director Sandra Vastola and CMPD Major Brad Koch, who also serves as CMPD Chief Johnny Jennings’ Executive Officer.
“Given Sandra Vastola’s pending litigation against us, we are limited in what we can say at this time.”
“However, some of the most powerful people within CMPD communicated with the Charlotte NAACP to file a complaint against Charlotte City Councilman Tariq Bokhari and the FOP.
The use of personal emails is concerning, because if this communication was not improper, why not use their city emails?
Facts concerning this email communication:
- NAACP Corine Mack filed an ethics complaint against Councilman Bokhari
- Sandra Vastola filed a lawsuit against the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Fraternal Order of Police
- CMPD’s Internal Affairs suspended and transferred our FOP President due to
- statements the FOP made against CMPD
“The Fraternal Order of Police has existed since 1915, advocating for more than 377,000 current members. The Charlotte FOP has over 2,000 members, including many CMPD officers. We will not be threatened, intimidated, or coerced by any entity to uphold our member’s rights, wants, and needs. Regardless of rank, Charlotte City Manager, Marcus Jones, must hold everyone involved in this matter accountable for their actions.”
VIDEO: 9 Investigates: Charlotte City Council votes to not settle potential lawsuit from CMPD chief
©2025 Cox Media Group
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/LH3JSJEF3VBLRJLJQESEAG34AM.png)
