Mecklenburg sheriff responds to damning reports: "I will not let somebody redefine me"

• "All of a sudden, (the media) are gonna say — 'Oh God, he got his own news channel. He don't need us anymore,'" McFadden said.

Catch up quick: The Charlotte Observer reported former employees of the sheriff's office allege that McFadden emotionally abuses and retaliates against his staff through terminations, in a detailed investigative story on Jan. 9 with four on-record interviews and three who asked not to be identified. Former detention officers also told the paper that workers are unsafe in the jail because of McFadden's management. One retired employee quoted by the Observer called him a "narcissist," the Observer noted.

• The internal issues began to surface in November when former chief deputy Kevin Canty resigned with a scathing letter, accusing McFadden of running his office like a "third-world dictatorship," WBTV and others reported.
• Soon after, the former director of business operations Angelia Riggsbee did a series of interviews accusing McFadden of firing her after she said she refused to alter public records.
• McFadden tells Axios it's "obvious" ex-employees aren't going to give an accurate account of their experience.

What they're saying: "This is a very progressive, a well-balanced and a well-structured sheriff's office led by me," McFadden says. "But here's what the problem is: I am a bold, straightforward, no-nonsense leader."

• Last year McFadden came under fire for a recording of Canty shared with WBTV. In the tape, he calls a white captain a "cracker" and uses the n-word, our news partners at WBTV reported. McFadden later apologized for his language.

The big picture: The fractures in relationships between the media and law enforcement have widened since the protests of 2020 following George Floyd's murder.

• Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department established a strict media policy in recent years following reports that the department thought put it in a bad light.
• CMPD doesn't always grant interviews and only guarantees reporters information that can be requested through public record laws, even though that is not always a timely avenue to share facts. At a private speaking event last week, chief Johnny Jennings joked that his end-of-year press conference would be the "worst part" of his day.

• Sheriff McFadden says he understands being questioned by journalists — "but don't create an image that we are bad."
• He voiced frustration many law enforcement agencies have echoed, that journalists only report on the negative and do not recognize the good they do for the community.

Zoom in: One issue local reporters have extensively covered is the jails. Deaths at the county jail have risen under McFadden's tenure, WBTV's investigative team reported.

• McFadden has attributed the increase in deaths to a rise in substance abuse and mental illness.
• "When somebody dies at the detention center, that's newsworthy," McFadden says. "Why isn't it newsworthy when people die at the hospital?"

Context: McFadden has become a fixture in local law enforcement throughout his four-decade career. He gained recognition as a detective for starring in the reality TV show "I Am Homicide" in 2016. President Biden honored him last year with the President's Lifetime Achievement Award. He showed Axios letters, photos and texts to emphasize the extent of his relationships with former inmates and community members.

• "You can't erase history," McFadden says. "I'm history."