Mecklenburg Co. Sheriff Accuses NCDHHS of ‘Targeted’ Jail Reports
CHARLOTTE – Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden voiced his strong opinions about the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services and the news media on Wednesday.
Four inmates have died in the Mecklenburg County detention center since December.
71 year old Elijah Kelly and 51 year old Anthony Walton had a medical emergency. 43 year old George Benfield and 42 year old Renny Mobley was found unresponsive.
“We all understand that a local media has always talked about our jail inspections, and they also tie them in with the deaths at our jails,” said Sheriff McFadden.
This news conference comes after the sheriff says a DHHS jail inspector came to the jail on Tuesday. McFadden says the inspector asked for “unusual documentation” of the jail’s cell tours. “Tours” are when staff checks cells to make sure all inmates are inside and ok.
McFadden says his staff questioned the inspector, Charles Brown.
“They questioned him and he simply said he can do what he wants to do,” said McFadden, “but he also said that this was a new process.”
The Sheriff claims his staff alerted him and the sheriff’s office’s lawyers about the situation.
“In questioning, I will quote ‘Mr. Brown, have you lied to my staff about the process and procedures that you’re asking for?’ and he simply says, ‘yes, I have lied.'”
After the news conference, Sheriff McFadden and an officer gave WCCB an unplanned tour of an empty cell block.
Officer G. Galvin says she puts the flashlight above or on the floor to see the wholesale, and wait for a chest to rise if the resident is in the bed sleeping.
“If not,” she said, “they’re standing up, I make sure they’re good. I ask them if they need anything and then I move on.”
Galvin says that each tour should take 6 to 7 minutes.
McFadden believes that he is being targeted because he is a “woke sheriff.”
WCCB received a statement from NCDHHS that states:
Please see the statement below from NCDHHS:
Ensuring that jails operate within state law and rules is shared responsibility between county sheriffs and the NCDHHSβ Division of Health Service Regulation. NCDHHS staff are professional and experienced in doing these surveys for facilities across the state and we have confidence in our team. We take all concerns by those we serve seriously and will review appropriately. -NCDHHS
