Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden is in hot water after he was caught on audio recording calling his own employees racial slurs. The recording surfaced in November 2024 by his Chief Deputy Kevin Canty. Another Chief Deputy identified as Rodney Collins was called a nigger by Sheriff Garry McFadden. Follow Charlotte Alerts on Instagram.
Kevin has accused Sheriff Garry McFadden of verbal abuse, racism and other misconduct. The sheriff has been labeled as unprofessional, a bad manager of the jail and a person that regularly insults his staff and employees. There have been a large number of deaths under the leadership of Garry McFadden. Kevin quit working for the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Department on November 1, 2024 after less than a year on the job.
A detention officer at the jail was arrested accused of giving an inmate vapes and a cell phone
In fact Chief Deputy Kevin says that the sheriff brings a toxic and abusive work culture to the jail. See here how the state of North Carolina said conditions at the jail were horrible and jeopardized inmate safety.
The sheriff is heard on audio recording saying,
“That white cracker captain is better than the other 7 captains upstairs. Chief Collins, I dont know who that nigger is. The 7 black captains won’t bust a grape. But that white boy I done cursed out, I will never trust him. Be Johnny on the spot, chop my wood and carry my water. A white boy. As long as I am here you will never get any further than captain. I try to give black people a chance and they bailed.
Sheriff Mcfadden even had the audacity to accuse residents in the town of Cornelius of racism in 2019 over the residents complaining about speeding enforcement in the town.
“I am a black sheriff, and now there is a problem with me enforcing speeding.”
Chief Deputy Kevin wrote in his resignation letter that he has witnessed firsthand the sheriff’s denigrating and unprofessional comments to the command and executive staff.
Kevin also says this of the sheriff:
“I have heard you use racist language, conduct beneath the dignity of the office of Sheriff. I’ve witnessed your blatant insecurities on full display as you accepted credit for all success and deflected blame and attributed all issues and problems to the staff. I’ve also witnessed you lie effortlessly, then throw a temper tantrum and attack the messenger when confronted with evidence that proved you lied.
The way you conduct yourself should be embarrassing to you and you frankly should be ashamed of yourself. The citizens of Mecklenburg County deserve better, as do the employees of the jail. I have watched you marginalize and retaliate against not only me, but against anyone who dares to push back against your endless onslaught of insults and condescending language. I also watched as you circumvented the Office of Professional Conduct and discarded the results of internal investigations if you disliked the results, or if the employee was someone you liked. I’ve also witnessed you weaponize OPC to target employees you have a personal dislike for, instead of using that division to conduct objective, unbiased investigations of allegations of violations of policy and procedure.
It is likely that the sheriff will not be endorsed by the Congressional Black Caucus in the 2026 elections, due to his racist rhetoric. The sheriff can be sued for making such racist language, as racial slurs are considered a violation of the Civil Rights Act.
But the Mecklenburg County Jail has performed horribly under the leadership of Garry McFadden. Mismanagement of the jail under the leadership of Garry McFadden is common, in fact Quay Davis was accidentally released from the same jail, and was on the run for weeks.
Even bugs were crawling on walls of the kitchen inside the jail
The jail also released a murder suspect from the jail by mistake
