CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) – Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden is asking the community to become more educated and give more effort into fighting the mental health issues facing inmates in Charlotte.
The call to action comes after a man, DiQuan Hunt, was charged with several crimes stemming from an August assault on a woman on a Dilworth sidewalk.
Hunt spent time in a medical facility before arriving at the Mecklenburg County Jail and has an extensive criminal history.
Sheriff McFadden addressed the fact that Hunt is one of about 1,000 inmates in the jail who has mental health issues. Jail staff gives medication to inmates with mental health issues up to three times per day.
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“We see these people every day. We see these people struggle with the mental health challenges every day. So really nothing unique about them,” said Sheriff McFadden.
McFadden said repeat offenders with mental health issues stay in the criminal justice system because of a lack of resources when they leave custody.
“Once those people are released back out on the streets, there is no warm handoff,” said Sheriff McFadden. “So they may go someplace for one or two days, stay on their medication for one or two days and then they go back to what they are accustomed to.”
His solution has multiple parts.
First, McFadden wants there to be programs or court-ordered requirements for people leaving custody.
“When a person leaves our detention center and is not being held on probation, all the charges are dismissed or they’re convicted and they served their time, we should have a program that receives that person if they still want to be treated and give that person the treatment that they need,” said the Sheriff. “Or the courts could order them while they’re on probation to go to this treatment center, fulfill all these standards that the judge is going to give them to be treated and see if they fulfill those obligations.”
Second, he wants to see more people give their attention to the issue in their communities.
“We’re going to back to school. Everybody has a book bag drive. Everybody’s going to find book bags to give those kids. Everybody’s going to find school supplies to give those kids. Imagine if we put all these resources together and come under one umbrella to say, we’re going to help these men and women in Charlotte?” he said.
Humanity and understanding are two more things Sheriff McFadden says he’d like to see more of from the community when trying to help the over 2,200 inmates in his jail.
“It really is a community effort. It’s a stakeholder’s effort. It’s the advocate efforts. But do we take on those responsibilities? Sometimes no,” he said. “There is hope, but how much hope do you want to put into them? How much time do you want to put into them?”
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