Feb. 19. By Dave Vieser. The Cornelius Town Board is asking Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden to attend their next public meeting on March 4 and explain why sheriffs descended upon Jetton Road Sunday afternoon for speed enforcement. McFadden was installed as sheriff in December, having defeated Irwin Carmichael in November.
“It is my understanding that there was little advance notification to our town police,” said Commissioner Kurt Naas. “I feel this creates an unnecessary adversarial situation.”
Naas also said he had been contacted by residents concerned that there was a serious police or crime situation.
Indeed, there was apparently no official coordination with local police. Speeders were clocked near Jetton Park where a fleet of sheriff vehicles waited to chase down violators.
The speed limit is 35 mph, but there is a virtual straight-away between Stableford just west of the park and Old Jetton where there have been a number of crashes.
Cornelius Police have pulled over drivers doing 80 mph on Jetton near the park, according to citation and arrest reports provided by Cornelius police to Cornelius Today.
Historically, the county sheriff’s department rarely does speed enforcement and the commissioners also seek to know if there has been a change in their operation policy.