CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden is known for his direct, “sugar-free talk” and, he recently let county commissioners know his deputies are working in outdated, cramped facilities.
He is asking them to support spending millions on ample space for the field operations division, which currently leases about 4,300 square feet of space inside the ABC Board building on N. Tryon Street.
“We believe, because of our space and our resources, we need better,” Sheriff McFadden said during his presentation to county commissioners. “All we’re asking for is to be respected with a little bit of dignity.”
Captain W.J. Van Allen has been helping to keep the Mecklenburg County sheriff’s office running smoothly for 15 years.
“I am currently a field operations captain,” Van Allen added. “I think this is my 13th assignment in the agency. I’ve bounced around.”
He leads around 95 deputies who are responsible for field ops like K-9, domestic violence, child support enforcement and transporting jail residents. But he says the number of deputies continues to grow.
Van Allen gave Spectrum News 1 a tour of the facilities field operations calls home. A conference doubles as a training, but due to the limited space, those trainings must be broken up into smaller groups, or taken into the parking lot.
“If we get two shifts, it’s going to be 40, if there’s really something going down we’re getting a lot of people in here, we’re not meeting in here,” Van Allen said.
He also showed us how sergeants are sharing workstations and the field ops captains must double up on using offices that are also storage closets.
But the most eye-opening part of the tour was the area the person who handles IT uses to oversee the technology used in all the field ops deputies’ vehicles. Boxes, chairs and tables are used to separate different areas of the small cubicle.
Van Allen said despite the cramped quarters his deputies are using, it does not impact the level of service they provide to Mecklenburg County.
“You got a lot of go-getters out here, and they’re really getting a bang for the buck out of the county out of these deputies,” he said.
In addition to moving field operations to a larger, permanent space the county owns, McFadden is also pleading with commissioners for a new headquarters. He said only 8% of $32.9 million of modernization funding they approved in 2018 has actually been spent.
“Imagine that you can meet with your staff, your administrative staff, and your executive staff,” McFadden told commissioners during that presentation. “But, I can’t because I can only house only six people in my conference room and my majors: five majors and I have three chief deputies.”
The county’s building facilities management director responded soon after the sheriff gave his report to county commissioners.
“I think there is a more fundamental disconnect between the sheriff’s office and the county of not being able to agree on the desired outcome or solution for each project,” Mark Hahn said to commissioner. “In other words, we’re simply not on the same page.”
Mecklenburg County Commission Chairman George Dunlap directed the sheriff and county officials to meet, discuss the sheriff’s needs and report back in a month on possible solutions.