Facing new criticism, Mecklenburg Sheriff McFadden defends himself
As yet another one-time leader in his agency came out against him, Sheriff Garry McFadden defended himself this month.
“They have to be the victim, and they will play the victim — and always play the victim,” he said of the growing list of former executive staff members who’ve accused him of being a narcissistic bully. “I don’t have the luxury to play the victim.”
For 10 months, the sheriff has faced censure from people he put in leadership positions. In November, then-Chief Deputy Kevin Canty quit and said in a resignation letter that McFadden is “classless and abusive.” Last month, someone else who had that job, Christopher Allen, left the office and accused the sheriff of orchestrating “backstabbing.”
Now, the woman who oversaw McFadden’s jail for six years has joined the chorus.
Speaking to The Charlotte Observer, recently retired Chief of Detention Telisa White said McFadden is narcissistic and blames detention officers when they are assaulted by inmates.
Three Democrats are running in the March 2026 primary election to replace him. He has not said whether he will run for reelection.
White: McFadden is narcissistic, blames staff
After 30 years at the sheriff’s office, White retired on March 1. She said she now works as a state jail inspector.
“It is the ultimate betrayal of trust, loyalty and honesty,” McFadden said of her critiques.
He referenced a desk plaque that White gifted him. It said:
“Sheriff McFadden thank you for giving me the opportunity to serve as your chief of detention” and was signed, “Respectfully T E White.”
White said she gave similar plaques to others she worked with.
In an interview, she gave McFadden credit for promoting her and allowing her to oversee the county jail. Past sheriffs might not have given her that opportunity, she said.
When he won his first election in 2018, McFadden worked to learn the agency, she said. (He came to the sheriff’s office after a long career investigating homicides at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.) He helped get the sheriff’s office more involved in the community, she added.
Beyond that, she had little positive to say.
McFadden told jail employees who were assaulted that it was their fault, then spoke negatively about them to others, she said.
“A lot of times, he would take the stories of inmates versus the stories of his staff,” she said.
True, she said: Sometimes staff put themselves in bad situations by not following protocol. But the “leader of the pack” should not put those people down in front of others, she believed.
It’s a claim that others who worked in the jail have made. In an investigation published by the Observer in January, some detention officers described the detention center as a “hell on earth” where they were left to fend for themselves.
McFadden gave tablets to inmates so they could learn and communicate with family. But that included people who broke rules and were moved to an isolated space known as restricted housing — what used to be called “the hole,” White said.
“Those were inmates who would not do what they were supposed to do or violate (rules) inside the facility,” she said.
She and jail staff cautioned that it was a bad idea, but McFadden overrode them, she said.
McFadden told the Observer that he holds his staff accountable and asks them questions when they are hurt, but does not “blame” them. He declined to discuss the tablets.
‘Rude and unprofessional’
Much of White’s criticism of McFadden centered on how he spoke to people, including her.
“He’s a narcissistic leader,” she said.
That narcissism came out among his executive staff and in one-on-one meetings, she said, where he would be “rude and unprofessional.”
The sheriff told her that she did not know what she was doing, accused her of jealousy and said that she would never be chief of detention without him, she said.
When deputies and detention officers break the rules, they are sent to the Office of Professional Compliance. That’s the sheriff’s office‘s internal affairs department.
White saw McFadden protect employees in the OPC process even when there was documentation of their wrongdoing, she said.
One employee was “allowed to sit and degrade me in the presence of the sheriff,” White said.
“He did nothing, said nothing,” she said.
McFadden called the claim that he protected any favorites an “absolute lie.”
“I don’t have favorites,” the sheriff said. “If I have a favorite, she’s the favorite of the favorite.”
While the sheriff asks many questions in the internal affairs process, he does not interfere, he said. People in the hearings have a right to defend themselves, he said.
“Emphatically, it is a lie,” McFadden said.
‘I trust too easily,’ sheriff says
McFadden cannot discuss personnel issues, he said. But in a brief conversation on Aug. 29 and again for 40 minutes on Sept. 3, he responded to the backlash he’s faced with his own critiques.
Reporters have created an “environment of mental stress” among his staff, he claimed.
After nearly a year of high-ranking staffers accusing him of poor management and meanness, he said he does have some faults.
“I trust too easily,” he said.
He also gives people chances and expects loyalty in return, he added.
“That’s it,” he said.
Today, he believes he has a “great” executive staff and that his agency has moved on from drama. He enjoys his work as sheriff; it gives him a national role and a chance to advise dozens of other sheriffs around the country, he said.
Regardless of whether he runs for reelection, his legacy is cemented, he said.
“All four of us can walk through a neighborhood,” he said of himself, Canty, Allen and White. “Who would be more recognized? Who would be most sought after? My legacy has already been created, and my legacy will continue — with them or without them.”
As for them?
“I created part of their legacy,” he said. “Think about that. I created every one of their legacies.”
Ryan Oehrli covers criminal justice in the Charlotte region for The Charlotte Observer. His work is produced with financial support from the nonprofit The Just Trust. The Observer maintains full editorial control of its journalism.