Wake sheriff defends personnel shake-up, denies retaliation or bias
Wake County Sheriff Gerald Baker on Thursday angrily defended personnel changes in the sheriff's office since he took over last month.
"I have not retaliated against anyone – no person – period," Baker said during a news conference.
His statements follow a WRAL Investigates report that the sheriff fired two master deputies who had reported homophobic comments made by a superior during "sensitivity training" sessions two years ago.
"They were terminated because I didn't have the confidence in them to follow and implement my policies moving forward," Baker said, calling the WRAL report inaccurate without offering any evidence to refute it.
Internal sheriff's office investigative notes regarding the 2017 sessions led by then-Lt. Teddy Patrick show he signaled to deputies he didn't like gay people – he thought being gay was wrong – but said he could work with them.
Gray Speight and Steven Williamson recently recalled Patrick saying that, if he went to a man's house and the man was wearing a dress, he wouldn't go inside. Patrick even outed a fellow deputy in one class, they said.
Baker said Thursday that the training was supposed to make participants feel uncomfortable and recognize their own biases so they could put them aside while on the job.
"[Patrick] doesn't not have those [anti-LGBT] views. What he said, he shouldn't have said that, but he did, and we've dealt with that," Baker said.
"He didn't mean anything by it," he continued. "It was a training class. He made an example that he shouldn't have made, and that was dealt with, and we are trying to move forward."
In the weeks after the 2017 sessions, then-Sheriff Donnie Harrison and other supervisors sought out deputies, including Williamson and Speight, to recount what Patrick had said.
Notes show that, when Patrick was questioned by superiors, he admitted, "I said it, and I meant it."
Despite recommendations for termination, Harrison ordered Patrick demoted from lieutenant to sergeant. Patrick asked to be dropped further to senior investigator so he could take on off-duty security work to make up for the salary he was losing.
Patrick filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission over his demotion, claiming it was racially based. But the EEOC rejected the complaint, noting in its findings that he had also made anti-Muslim comments.
After Baker defeated Harrison in the November election, he promoted Patrick to captain, one of the highest-ranking officers in his administration.
He also fired Williamson and Speight, who are among dozens of deputies who have lost their jobs or been demoted following the change in command.
Three of four other deputies who gave statements to superiors about Patrick's conduct in the training sessions are still with the sheriff's office.
Sheriffs have broad legal authority to hire and fire as they see fit, and Baker said Harrison made similar moves during his 16 years in office.
"I have not done anything any different," he said. "I made decisions across the board regardless of age, race [or] sex. For someone to say that I am biased against anyone in this office, you're clearly misinformed."
Baker became emotional when defending Patrick, saying he brings 19 years of experience to the sheriff's office "that is of great value to this office and the residents of this county."
LGBT advocacy groups have expressed concerns about the firing of Williamson ans Speight and Patrick's promotion.
Baker said the LGBT community doesn't need to fear any bias from Patrick or anyone in his office.
"This office is here, and I've said it for over a year and I say it today, is here to serve everyone in this county," he said.
He has promoted at least three gay employees in the sheriff's office during the transition, including the deputy who was outed during the 2017 training session.
Rev. Clayton Brooks, president of LGBTQ Democrats of Wake County, said he met Wednesday with Baker and some deputies and that the sheriff promised to meet with local LGBT advocates next week.
"[We expect] that there will be steps taken over the next few months to ensure that the community and all citizens in Wake County know that this sheriff's department is committed to bettering itself," Brooks said.
