Speaker 1: What's going on? Thank you so much for listening to
this podcast. It is heard live every day from noon
to three on WBT Radio in Charlotte. And if you
want exclusive content like invitations to events, the weekly live stream,
my daily show prep with all the links. Become a patron,
go to vpeteclendershow dot com. Make sure you hit the
subscribe button. Get every episode for free right to your
smartphone or tablet. And again, thank you so much for
your support. So another murder along the light rail. But
the Charlotte Area Transit system wants everybody to know that
this did not occur on Kat's property. Okay, it did
not occur at the Archdale station platform. It did not
occur on the Charlotte light rail line. It occurred under
underneath the light of course. I mean, just looking at
the video. I used to live down there years ago
in this area, long before there was a light rail line.
But the rail line goes up and over the road,
and so the video that I saw was underneath like
that overpass. So the train track is up above, and
the homicide occurred down at the street level. It occurred
in the wee hours of six thirty pm. So like
rush hour commuting time, basically when people would be riding
the light rail, which is not where the homicide occurred.
The Charlotte Mecklaburg Police Department said they responded to an
assault with the deadly weapon called just after six thirty
pm on the sixty one hundred block of South Boulevard.
At the scene, they found a person near the train
tracks with a gunshot wound. That person was taken to
an area hospital, where they later died. CMPD said a
preliminary investigation indicates that the alter case happened at a
nearby business, but no additional details have been made available
at this time. Also, the other day, this was last week,
when there was a one man crime spree that occurred
in that started up in north West Charlotte and then
ended in West Charlotte about a block from the radio
station here. I think it occurred on Friday maybe and
at like three o'clock in the afternoon it ended. It
started with a double well now it's a double murder,
and then the suspect did a home invasion, kidnapped a woman,
threw her in her car, stole her car, was driving
it around, fled from police, shooting at police from the
car crashed, The car ran shot at the cops again
and the cops returned fire and put the maniac down.
One of the two initial victims that was shot, one
was killed at the scene. The other was taken to
the hospital, but he has now passed away and so
our condolences to his family and friends. His name was
Shabbaz Messiah Grant, thirty four year old father of four
with another child on the way, and he was driving
for lift when he was shot twice on Hoskins Road
that caused him to crash into a house. A passenger
in his vehicle returned fire. There was somebody so he
had a passenger in the lift vehicle who opened fire
on the suspect and then provided aid to Shabaz Grant
until emergency responders arrived. This is according to story WSOCTV
by Jonathan Lowe. Grant was eventually taken to a hospital
where he succumbed to his injuries. Sunday, the suspect, Joseph Andrade,
allegedly stole a car, crashed into a house, kidnapped a woman,
led police on a high speed chase before a shootout
near Pinky's West Side Grill resulted in his death, Andrade
is twenty eight years old. He is from Ocala, Florida.
Had a criminal record with at least four arrests in
Marion County, Florida, mostly for traffic related charges. There's no
understanding yet at least publicly disclosed about the motive behind
why he did what he did the other day. But
at least he did us all the favor of not
having to go through a trial, which brings us to
one of the I would submit one of the causes
of the crime wave that we are seeing in the
lack of prosecution. There are multiple facets to this issue.
I've been covering this, you know, for the last gosh,
I don't know year. Well, I mean the issue of
crime in general, for most of, if not all, of
my career, because as a reporter, you get sent out
to cover crime stories, and so when you go out
and cover the crime stories, you're talking to victims, families,
You're going to court. I've sat through trials and such
over the years, and as a you know, government beat reporter,
you cover a lot of the policies that lawmakers try
to craft in order to address some of these problems
or to quote unquote reform criminal justice, and of course
we saw a lot of this in the wake of
the twenty twenty summer of fiery but mostly peaceful riots
and this you know, quote unquote racial reckoning that was occurring.
Whatever that meant, it was never really clear what that meant.
But you know, the Ferguson effect, and we're going to
you know, we're going to lighten some of these sentences
and we're going to take a restorative justice approach. And
the MacArthur Foundation and all of their funding they've been
pumping into criminal court systems in North Carolina, Mecklemberg County
for one, like over three million dollars over the years
recent years, like over the last six years they've they've
poured in and what they buy for that trainings, you know,
they do trainings for court staff, magistrates, you know, court
officials and stuff, you know, and they're they're pitching everything
through the quote, you know, le equity lens and what
does that mean. Well, now you're getting into disparate outcomes, like, oh, well,
we see you know, this high proportion of you know,
people who are incarcerated who are black or Hispanic, although
that's an ethnicity, not a race, And so now it's
coming to light that the coding in a lot of
jail systems has been coding Hispanics as whites, which might
maybe skew some of the data. I think maybe not sure,
but I think it might. If you're coding all Hispanic
offenders has white offenders, I think that might have an
impact on some of the data. But that's a different topic.
One of the other issues that we have seen is
this surge in youth offense, right youth offenders that are
constantly being released, sometimes most times, you know, not even
getting any kind of punishment. They're just released back to
their parent or guardian who's doing a terrible job as
a parent or guardian because their kid has a rap
sheet you know, longer than the life they have lived
so far. And so the cause of this, I would submit,
is the raise the age laws. And North Carolina did this,
and it was the Republican General Assembly that did it,
and Roy Cooper signed it into law. Now the legislature
has gone back and toughened some of the law to
make some of the more egregious offenses now you know,
classify or push these juvenile offenders into an adult category
to allow them to be tried as an adult because
they just took everything down for like sixteen seventeen year
olds and just you know, you know, you're a juvenile.
So there was a piece by the editorial board at
the New York Post the other and this is through
the lens of their you know, mayoral election. But they
are dealing with the same problem that Charlotte is and
every urban you know, blue city run jurisdiction is dealing
with these raise the age offenders, a generation of kids
who have become career criminals before they are even eligible
to vote. And there's no coming back from that, right
you rack up two three dozen charges as a juvenile
and I know they're like, oh, you know. Stories are powerful.
They help us make sense of things, to understand experiences.
Stories connect us to the people of our past while
transcending generations. They help us process the meaning of life,
and our stories are told through images and videos. Preserve
your stories with Creative Video started in nineteen ninety seven
and Minhill, North Carolina. It was the first company to
provide this valuable service, converting images, photos and videos into
high quality produced slide shows, videos and albums. The trusted,
talented and dedicated team at Creative Video will go over
all of the details with you to create a perfect project.
Satisfaction guaranteed. Drop them off in person or mail them.
They'll be ready in a week or two. Memorial videos
for your loved ones, videos for rehearsal, dinners, weddings, graduations, Christmas,
family vacations, birthdays, or just your family stories, all told
through images. That's what your photos and videos are. They
are your life told through the eyes of everyone around
you and all who came before you, and they will
tell others to come who you are, visit creative video
dot com. So here's the thing. This Raise the Age
quote reform is not actually keeping kids out of jail.
What it's actually doing, according to the editors at The
New York Post, with whom I agree, what it's actually
doing is creating more teenage criminals, more teen victims, and
that means more futures ruined by crime, not saved from it.
That is exactly right, because you've got this massive increase
in the number of teenage victims, a ninety six percent
increase in victims under the age of eighteen who have
been shot, and you've got this even larger increase in
the number of shooters, one hundred and forty eight percent
increase in teen shooters and that comes as overall shootings
have declined. And again, this is in New York State
or New York City, I believe, uh, I believe it's
New York City. But they adopted this Raise the Age
reform seven years, six years ago, way before North Carolina did.
North Carolina has already had to go back and edit
their law in order to boost some of these sentences
and say, Okay, we're going to take these crime categories
out of the Raise the Age and move them into
the category where you can be tried as an adult.
They go on to say teenagers are impulsive and make
bad decisions. I have heard this, by the way, about teenagers.
I mean I never did. I was never impulsive, I
never made bad decisions as a teenager. But I have
heard that. It's it's pretty well known. So it's up
to adults to show them what behavior society will not
accept and will accept. Right teens, kids, even adults, we
all need guardrails. And I'm not saying, you know, legislate morality,
not saying that, but if you accept certain behaviors in
your society, you will get more of it because you've
told people it's acceptable. And if you tell them this
is not acceptable, and we will punish you severely because
it is not acceptable, then you will get less of
that thing. Now I understand, Like, what about the war
on drugs? I understand that, But what has happened? And look,
as a lowercase libertarian, I have argued for the decriminalization
of marijuana for years. I understand you drive, you drive
the market underground. However, I'm not going to sit here
and tell you that the decriminalization has led to less usage.
That hasn't happened. It's the opposite, More people use it
because it's legalized. The point there was that there was
a black market, which then, of course has massive criminal
incentives around it. Intervening in the life of a wayward
kid with real punishment early on teaches him to stay
away from law breaking and discourages making a life's style
out of victimizing others. Right, It also destroys the fabric
of your society, allowing teenagers to run wild in the streets,
attacking people, murdering people, vandalizing things, you know, robbing stores
and such, without any kind of repercussions. Any kind of
penalties teaches them that they can continue to do it,
and it teaches the society that you don't want to
be anywhere around this kind of lack of enforcement, and
people will leave, businesses will close. You destroy the high
trust society that you are enjoying. Like this is civilizational stuff.
I keep coming back to the hierarchy of needs on
this thing, Like fundamental to any functioning civil society is
an expectation of security. And if you cannot provide that,
then there is no re and for free citizens to
engage in the social contract. I would not. Why would I?
Why would I go down and spend money in an
area where I'm taking my life into my hands? If
I if I were looking to open a business, if
I'm a wealthy entrepreneur looking to set up businesses someplace,
why would I go into a location that has high crime.
I would not because my patrons would be victimized, my
employees would be victimized, I would lose money, and I
would have to close. I would I would That's not
a profitable business, so I would not go there. This
is the reverse of actual compassion. You are putting these
kids on a life long path towards misery. Lawmakers have
to drastically revise this law. This raised the age law
before it ruins an entire generation. Here's a great idea.
How about making an escape to a really special and
secluded getaway in western North Carolina. Just a quick drive
up the mountain and Cabins of Asheville is your connection.
Whether you're celebrating an anniversary, a honeymoon, maybe you want
to plan a memorable proposal, or get family and friends
together for a big old reunion, Cabins of Ashville has
the ideal spot for you where you can reconnect with
your loved ones and the things that truly matter. Nestled
within the breath taking fourteen thousand acres of the Pisga
National Forest, their cabins offer a serene escape in the
heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Centrally located between Asheville
and the entrance of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park.
It's the perfect balance of seclusion and proximity to all
the local attractions, with hot tubs, fireplaces, air conditioning, smart TVs,
Wi Fi, grills, outdoor tables, and your own private covered porch.
Choose from thirteen cabins, six cottages, two villas, and a
great lodge with eleven king sized bedrooms. Cabins of Ashville
has the ideal spot for you for any occasion, and
they have pet friendly accommodations. Call or text eight two eight,
three six seven seventy sixty eight or check out all
there is to offer at Cabins of Aashville dot com
and make memories that'll last a lifetime. Charlotte Observer, in
a piece by Ryan Orley headlined years after Charlotte's Juvenile
Jail closed, some hope for its return. And this is
one of the things that people, I think outside of journalism,
actually people inside journalism don't even understand this point. I
think so much of good journalism requires a look back,
requires you to know, as the reporter, to tell a
story of something that's happening now, you have to understand
how you got to where you are now. And that's
the benefit of what we call institutional knowledge. Right, you're
on the beat, You've been on the beat, that's been
your beat for a very long time, and so you
know the history of these policy changes or the personalities involved, right,
the candidates and such. You have that historical record and knowledge,
and so This is a I think a well timed piece.
There's a jail that is basically empty. It was a
juvenile detention facility in North mech and it was closed
like three years ago by our sheriff, Gary not my
fault McFadden. Now, this may surprise you to learn that
the sheriff says the closure of the facility was not
his fault, but he closed it. It was the only
juvenile detention center in Mecklenburg County. Now some in the
criminal justice system, according to the reports, still hope for
its return. State public safety leaders and local advocates agree
something important was lost when McFadden shut down the facility,
once known as Jail North. Today, much of the building
sits empty in North Charlotte, and local teenagers who are
charged with crimes that are actually sent to a jail,
they're sent to a state juvenile facility located in Caberras County.
For years, according to the story, State Department of Public
Safety Deputy Secretary William Lassiter has tried to persuade not
my fault McFadden to do something with the building that
once housed seventy two teenagers. While North Carolina is responsible
for juvenile jails. Lassiter has argued that Charlotte saw benefits
when the sheriff's office ran one. Listen to this quote.
I tried to lease the facility from McFadden. This is
the state Deputy Secretary for Public Safety, William Lassiter. I
tried to lease it. I tried to buy it. I
tried to offer incentives for them to do it. All
those have been rejected. At this point, I feel like
the ball is in their court, meaning the sheriff's office.
The sheriff McFadden has his own plan though, to reopen
the jail, and we have heard this. I mentioned this
couple months ago when I came across this line in
some interview that he gave, and I thought, well, that's
just a stupid idea, and apparently the state agrees with me.
They called it unfeasible, so it's not feasible. I called
it stupid. In twenty twenty two, McFadden closed Jail North.
Staff working at that facility were then moved to Uptown,
where they worked with adults instead of teenagers. Short staffing
numbers and other issues forced the sheriff's hand, he said
at the time. The law says juvenile justice is a
state responsibility, which it is like the creating these juvenile
jails and stuff. The state operates a handful of them
across the state. Jail North was always optional, even if
it was beneficial. Okay, so far, totally agree with all
of that. It's like the crime lab. Charlotte has its
own crime lab. It built its own crime lab because
the state crime Lab, when it was being run by
then Attorney General Roy Cooper, was not able to keep
up with the demand on its services from Charlotte. So
Charlotte built its own crime lab so it could actually
get the data analyzed and get it back to the
investigators in a timely fashion. Housing adults and ensuring they
are in a safe facility, however, is something that sheriffs
are legally mandated to do. In an interview on Monday,
McFadden repeatedly said he would like to reopen Jail North. Quote.
Do I want to open the juvenile detention Center? Absolutely?
One hundred percent. This is how he always talks. He
always he always asks himself a question and then answers
the question. You know, so why not open it on
a small Oh, so, he says, but hiring here's why
he can't reopen it. Hiring more than ninety people to
work at the facility would be long involved work, even
if the state helped pay for some of those employees.
So it's just too hard to hire people. Why not
open it on a smaller scale, he says. If you're
going to open it up and it goes max on
the first week, I believe he means maximum population, then
what are you going to do Whether you entertain one
person for mental health or fourteen, you still have to
have a doctor for mental health. You cook fourteen chicken
sandwiches versus one hundred chicken sandwiches, you know what, you
still need You know what, you still need a cook.
So he just can't staff it, is what he's saying.
So why bother trying, why bother trying a phased in approach?
This is absurd. This is why this is maladministration. This
is something you should actually be removed from office for.
If you can't figure out how to phase up and
open a facility, then you should not be the top
administrator of that facility. So how about the idea of
leasing it to the state or selling it to the state.
And you know what his answer is, Well, how are
they going to staff it, that's not your problem. If
they have offered to lease it and staff it. If
they have all offered to buy it and staff it,
that's not your problem anymore. Why wouldn't you, Why wouldn't
you offload this to the state that you point out
it's their responsibility to do this stuff, Well, then just
sell them the building or lease it to them and
let them worry about the staffing that you are incapable
of doing. Lassiter, the deputy director who oversees juvenile justice,
said he has tried to find a solution with McFadden
for years, but he recently gave up. He said it's
up to the sheriff's office to say what it needs.
So what's McFadden's idea? The stupid idea, I shall tell
you in a moment. All right, if you're listening to
this show, you know I try to keep up with
all sorts of current events, and I know you do too,
And you've probably heard me say get your news from
multiple sources. Why Well, because it's how you detect media bias,
which is why I've been so impressed with ground News.
It's an app and it's a website, and it come
binds news from around the world in one place so
you can compare coverage and verify information. You can check
it out at check dot ground, dot news slash pete.
I put the link in the podcast description too. I
started using ground News a few months ago and more
recently chose to work with them as an affiliate because
it lets me see clearly how stories get covered and
by whom. The blind spot feature shows you which stories
get ignored by the left and the right. See for
yourself check dot ground, dot news slash pete. Subscribe through
that link and you'll get fifteen percent off any subscription.
I use the Vantage plan to get unlimited access to
every feature. Your subscription then not only helps my podcast,
but it also supports ground News as they make the
media landscape more transparent. So what is the stupid idea
from Gary? Not my fault. McFadden Mecklimer County sheriff. So
he's got the Jail North facility, but he's mothballed the
thing basically for the last three years, saying he couldn't
keep it staffed, and they relocated the employees to Central
Jail to now guard adults. So now Mecklimber County has
no juvenile jail facility, which means that the state can't
house any of these juveniles in Mecklimber County. They got
to send them up to Cabaris or to the other
I think there's like two, three or four around the
rest of the state, and they got to ship them
off there. And the state has said, well, we'll lease
the building from the sheriff, and the sheriff says no,
and we'll buy the building from you. The sheriff says no.
And the reason why, according to the sheriff, is because
he doesn't think that the state will be able to
staff it. But that's a state problem, that's not a
Sheriff macfadden problem. So you blocking the lease or sale
of this facility to the state like you are now responsible.
I know it's not your brand to ever accept the
responsibility or the fault for something, but this is on
you now because you don't want the state to take
over this facility to open it back up, which is
kind of on the same brand as the you know,
not going to cooperate with ice and uh, you know,
just let people out of the jail and we can
you know, we can reform everybody in the jail by
giving them access to a recording studio so they can
cut their their sick wraps and licks and such. But
he does have an idea for that facility, the Jail
North facility. He proposed this idea to the Observer in
this interview, but he has proposed it before, and I
have called this a very stupid idea. He says the
state could shut down the juvenile detention center in Cabaris
County and then move all of the Cabaris County staff
to Mecklenburg and put them under his employment because he
has created some such a fantastic work environment that everybody
wants to work for sheriff, not my fault, McFadden, So
they don't. They actually are leaving. They are fleeing his employee,
and they are writing scathing letters to the public, to
the sheriff, to their fellow colleagues about the dictatorial nature
of McFadden's leadership style, calling it a toxic work environment,
calling him a narcissist, a micromanager, abusive use, using racial
slurs against his employees, his command staff, Like, nobody wants
to work with this guy, So why would the state
close the Cabaris County facility and move all of those
employees under McFadden's employment overnight. He says, they could start
reporting to him. What a megalomaniac. Here's the quote. I
hate to say this, spoiler, he doesn't. I hate to
say this, but it's kind of like the Jeffersons kind
of moving on up. Oh my god, the raging narcissism
of this man. The idea that you would consider that
as an employee at Cabaris County's jail, that if I
were now transferred to go work for Mecklimberg County, which,
by the way, for those who are unaware, is a
different entity than Cabaris County. So you now are no
longer an employee in Cabaris County. Now you're an employee
of Meclimberg County. Okay, but you would somehow transfer that
employment or something. But he says, you'd be moving on
up because we're better than Cabarras County, which is what
I Obviously, you have such a hard time recruiting people
to come work in Mecklenburg from Cabarras County, right, Nobody
wants to come work in Mecklimburg County. He says, you
move from this facility to this facility, and I'll give
you what you want. I mean, if you want a
toxic work environment and racial slurs and micromanagement, then yes,
that's what he would be able to provide you. McFadden
has floated this idea before, according to the spokesperson for
the Department of Public Safety, Matt Debnan, he said it's
not feasible though. First, he says, the employees working at
Cabarras County's juvenile jail or state employees, meaning they applied
specifically to work for North Carolina, and there is not
a way to simply transfer them to a county job. Also,
closing Cabaris County's facility would not actually alleviate the capacity
issues that are facing the juvenile justice system. In fact,
it would result in a net loss of juvenile detention beds.
You see, Jail North has seventy two beds, Cabaris County
has one hundred and fifty eight. So this is why
McFadden's idea is stupid. Why would you close the facility
that has one hundred and fifty eight beds and then
transfer all those employees somehow or another to a new
employer of Mecklenburg County and get like half the number
of beds, less than half the number. How dumb it
makes you wonder. It makes you wonder is there some
other reason? Is there another reason why you refuse to
lease or sell this property to the state so it
can now open another juvenile justice facility? Is there something
else going on? Is there another reason? Because this isn't
a plan. What you have pitched here is a stupid plan.
It's not going to work. It doesn't work, and it
would be worse. Appending lawsuit in federal court alleges poor
conditions at the Caberras County facility. The lawsuit mentions Jail
North's closure because the kids who were going to Jail
North now go to Caberras. The Department of Public Safety
is not shy about those problems, saying the reality is
right now in juvenile detention, we are overcrowded, we are
short staffed. Yes, there are three facilities in Rockingham Perkamont's County.
I always get that one wrong, and Richmond County. They
have opened since Jail North closed. That's given the juvenile
justice system some breathing room, according to the state, But
facilities across the state are still at capacity and some
teenagers are having to sleep in cots. Statewide, there are
four hundred and twenty five miners in facilities and only
four hundred and seven beds for them, So that's the delta.
That's the gap, is about twenty beds. Jail North has
seventy two. So you could even if you're half staffed,
you could open some of those beds. You could open
like a third of that space and alleviate the overcrowding.
But he won't do it. McFadden won't do it, and
I don't believe it has to do with his concern
that the state can't staff it. All right, that'll do
it for this episode. Thank you so much for listening.
I could not do the show without your support and
the support of the businesses that advertise on the podcast,
so if you'd like, please support them too and tell
them you heard it here. You can also become a
patron at my Patreon page or go to thepetecallanershow dot com. Again,
thank you so much for listening, and don't break anything
while I'm gone.