CHARLOTTE, N.C. – With about a third of the delegates of the Fraternal Order of Police convention walking out on Attorney General Roy Cooper, the group voted to endorse Pat McCrory for a second term as governor.

Four years ago, the Fraternal Order of Police endorsed McCrory’s challenger Walter Dalton.

But this time, Randy Hagler, the president of the North Carolina chapter, said that McCrory has proven to be “a true friend to the entire law enforcement community.”

Hagler said that “Whether it is establishing the Blue Alert System to find cop killers, ensuring the children of fallen officers can go to college free of charge or pushing for more resources to end backlogs at the State Crime Lab, Governor McCrory has shown he is fighting for law enforcement every day.”

Many of the members were upset with Cooper’s handling of a case where a white officer was charged in the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man.

Prosecutors opted not to retry Charlotte-Mecklenburg Officer Randall Kerrick after a mistrial. Kerrick was charged with voluntary manslaughter in the 2013 death of former college football player Jonathan Ferrell.

The FOP spent $500,000 on Kerrick’s defense. Members blame Cooper for deciding to prosecute on what they feel was insubstantial evidence.

“That fact that law enforcement officers walked out on Roy Cooper and endorsed Pat McCrory for governor is a major indictment of Cooper’s 16-year record as the state’s top cop and chief law enforcement officer, which has been weak, ineffective and sparse of real accomplishment,” said Dallas Woodhouse, the NC Republican Party’s executive director.

The group also endorsed Buck Newton for Attorney General, Dale Folwell for Treasurer, Wayne Goodwin as Insurance Commissioner and Michael Morgan for N.C. Supreme Court.The Associated Press contributed to this report.