Former Bennettsville police chief dies

Former Bennettsville police chief Eugene Copeland, died Friday at his home, his niece Deidra Copeland said. He was 80.

Copeland, who was chief from 1973 to 1990, spent his entire career with the Bennettsville Police Department. He was hired July 4, 1953, as the first black officer in South Carolina, Deidra Copeland said.

Copeland was a graduate of N.C. Agricultural & Technical State in Greensboro and a member of Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church in Bennettsville, Deidra Copeland said.

After battling a brief illness, she said, Copeland was released from a hospital Thursday. She said he died as a result of cardiac arrest.