New sheriffs have work cut out for them

By: Morning News | SCNow
Published: December 28, 2008

As the new year begins in the Pee Dee, Darlington and Dillon counties each look forward to having their first new sheriffs in more than two decades.

Darlington Police Capt. Wayne Byrd takes over for W. Glenn Campbell in Darlington County, while Major Hulon, a retired S.C Department of Natural Resources game warden, succeeds Harold Grice in Dillon County.

In a joint poll by Francis Marion University and the Morning News, crime and drugs were named as the top community problem by 16 percent of survey respondents.

And just a few weeks ago, CQ Press reported that the Florence Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is made up of Florence and Darlington counties and their municipalities, has the country’s sixth-highest metropolitan crime rate.

It seems the new sheriffs have their work cut out for them.

It seems both are up to the task.

Both Byrd and Hulon have said they will work diligently to combat their counties’ illegal drug activity, which is inextricably linked with the area’s rise in gang violence.

Byrd, for one, said he’s looking forward to re-establishing a combined drug unit in Darlington County.

Hulon said fighting against illegal drugs is his “No. 1 priority.”

“Everywhere I go in my community, people are very concerned about that,” he said in a previous interview. “I hope in four years people can say we have less of a problem than when we started, that’s my hope and my desire.”

Byrd said he is preparing to address Darlington County’s gang problem by forming a county-wide task force and working with new 4th Circuit Solicitor Will Rogers, who also has plans to stamp out the gang problem. We expect Hulon will be involved in that effort as well, as Dillon County is included in the 4th Judicial Circuit.

Byrd also said he knows one of the most important things is to have a good staff of deputies supporting him. He and Hulon say the deputies who perform their duties well and lawfully needn’t fear a lack of job security. Both incoming sheriffs recognize the need to retain good employees and provide them with training and advancement opportunities.

Byrd and Hulon, like all sheriffs, will have to face the financial difficulties under which their counties are operating. They not only will have to work on improving the sheriff’s office, but also on securing the funding for making those changes.

We expect the new sheriffs to perform the tasks they’ve been elected to do and to perform those tasks admirably, building on the successes of their predecessors and adjusting according to the needs of the communities they serve.

As Byrd said, “The sheriff works for the people. He’s the people’s representative; he handles the people’s business.”

Good luck to both men as they begin their terms of office in 2009.