March 29, 2022

Challengers to the incumbent sheriff focus on an erosion of staff morale and a crisis in safety inside the Mecklenburg Detention Center. The challenged incumbent insists he has delivered on his promises and will keep moving forward, bringing into the jail a higher level of accountability.

All three candidates in the May 17 Democratic primary for Mecklenburg Sheriff spoke this morning. Incumbent Garry McFadden was elected four years ago after a long career as a Charlotte detective. Marquis Robinson retired from the Sheriff’s office in January. Gina Hicks, reportedly fired in 2019 by McFadden after a long law enforcement career, told a reporter last month she was asked to run. No Republican or Libertarian Party candidates filed for the office, so this primary may be tantamount to election.

And the issues raised today about staff retention, and safety of both deputies and inmates during a big drop in staffing, go well beyond the headline-grabbing issues of federal inmates leaving for South Georgia. Time is short for local media to turn some attention to helping voters come to a useful consensus on the future of the office. Without that, the endorsements in this race by local political groups will take on very high importance indeed. The Forum does not endorse candidates.

Greetings from candidates made at the end of this meeting will be posted on the Forum’s elections pages.

From the chat box:

Jenny Vollmer:
I want to know WHERE I can find a list of ALLLLLL the fees and markups I have to pay associated with an incarcerated person please. Phone, funds, commissary, etc. Every fee. Where???

Jenny Vollmer:
Can you …  replace the phones in the pods every 3 months or so?!! Those phones take a lot of abuse and the audio quality is [low].