Wilson High SRO dismissed by Florence County Sheriff’s Office
Published: June 25, 2009
Updated: June 26, 2009
A School Resource Officer working at Wilson High School in Florence School District 1 has been dismissed by the Florence County Sheriff’s Office for inappropriate conduct involving a student.
The deputy wasn’t identified by the sheriff’s office or Florence 1 in their press releases issued Thursday. The school’s Web site, http://www.fsd1.org/wilson, however, lists its SRO as Chase McDaniel, who also is listed in the 2009 S.C. Sheriffs’ Association directory as an SRO with the Florence County Sheriff’s Office.
The parents of an 18-year-old female Wilson student and the SRO had developed an association, one which the parents deemed inappropriate, according to the Florence 1 press release. The student and her parents said the association wasn’t sexual.
The Florence County Sheriff’s Office Command Staff was notified about the association between the student and the officer, and the officer was suspended from his duties at the school immediately pending an investigation by the State Law Enforcement Division.
The matter was investigated by SLED because it involved a sheriff’s office employee, according to the sheriff’s office press release.
The sheriff’s office told Florence 1 officials that while the SRO didn’t violate the law, according to SLED, his conduct was inappropriate and unacceptable.
The former SRO will face no criminal charges, according to the sheriff’s office. He was hired by the sheriff’s office June 9, 2004 and becamse Wilson’s SRO July 31, 2006, Sheriff Kenney Boone said.
“Based upon the allegations and the circumstances, we believed that the appropriate response was to terminate the SRO,” Boone said in the release. “School resource officers provide an important service to our schools, and parents must have confidence that our officers are there for the protection of the students.”
The sherff’s office employs nine SROs at Florence County schools.
Florence 1 officials said in the release they will work with the sheriff’s office to find a replacement for the officer who has been dismissed from his duties at the school.
SROs, according to the S.C. Association of School Resource Officers, serve in schools as law enforcement officers, law-related educators and law-related counselors. The first SRO program in South Carolina utilizing this model was developed in 1994 in Beaufort County, according to the association’s Web site, http://www.scasro.org.
The association was developed two years later as a statewide organization for officers to contact on what programs were adn weren’t working in schools, how to handle certain situations and aas a clearinghouse for lesson plans. The association later worked with the General Assembly and the S.C. Criminal Justice Academy in developing a standard for SROs and a state law giving SROs statewide jurisdiction while on a school function.
On the Web
Florence County Sheriff’s Office, http://www.fcso.org
Wilson high School, http://www.fsd1.org/wilson
S.C. Association of School Resource Officers, http://www.scasro.org
Advertisement
Reader Reactions
angelswalk,
the sad thing is he doesn’t have to worry about being someones elses problem. he’s still our problem. and in the long run he will probably cost the county as well as the sheriff’s office. but it’s easier to blame the victim than the offender in a “good ol boy” system where women are viewed as inferior and/or imcompetent.so now the victim is victimized again by the very leadership that is supposed to protect her from this very thing. she is made to be the bad guy and did nothing wrong. all she did is report inapropriate behavior by a supervisor.
so why is his inapropriate behavior acctepted and the sro’s inapropriate behavior not. the press release even stated that the conduct was not sexual in nature. seems like maybe he’s been victimized by the same system that has victimized her.
Averagejoe, interesting!
Seems then crimes of sexuality are running rampant as well as domestic violence in law enforcement. Just as I have been saying. There must be many!
There is no respect or trust anymore. The little faith that is left in law enforcement is hard fought for. I hate, hate, hate that I can not trust my fellow man in a uniform.
I believe it does not go into a troubled officer’s file simply so that, that officer can walk on and be some other departments problem. Then typically that next department will have a problem, but of course, there is nothing in the file! So, the pattern is set, until someone is badly hurt (or not). Then if someone is badly hurt, these departments cover it up and years later conveniently, even if with a fight, that department gets to throw the evidence out and away.
The victim is left being further victimized by the very system and people put into place to help her.
This is why we don’t report, because the few that do are treated shabby like this. It has far reaching effects into the victim’s life and the lives of their loved ones.
Perhaps we should all come together and find out why law enforcement covers for a few bad seed officers. They must not even think of the many lives such behavior effects; the ramifications can go on forever for the victim with no closure.
The average joe should have to walk a mile in an officer’s shoes. You really would be surprised at some.
That is why the need for recordings at all times, to weed out the bad from the good.
interesting. since the sheriffs office is currently under investigation by s.c. human affairs commission for doing absolutly nothing to a supervisor who had an iron clad sexual harassment complaint brought against him, with a considerable amount of evidence presented to support the claim. according to sled the sro’s conduct was inappropriate, maybe the sheriff’s office should have consulted with sled to figure out how to deal with a supervisor who sexually harrasses fellow female employees. i realize this girl was a student and im not making light of that. but the press release states that he did not break the law, however, someone who violated federal employment laws against such harassment doesn’t even get a reprimand put in his file. i’m all for protecting our kids, i have a kid in a dist 1 school. but don’t our employees deserve the same consideration and protection. no one should have to go work and deal with that. but when you are the people who are supposed to enforce the law and protect our citizens it’s pretty sad that you wont protect your own employees.
“The parents of an 18-year-old female Wilson student and the SRO had developed an association, one which the parents deemed inappropriate,“... Who was the inappropriate relationship with, the parents or the 18yr old?. Great writing SCNOW.
Bottom line is, there is proper and improper protocol.Perhaps this should be investigated further if there is still question.
Don’t you know, law enforcement is rarely held accountable unless they are directly caught with their hand in the cookie jar.
I am sorry but I do not understand why this SRO person was dismissed from his job. If there were not sexual implications and he was not breaking the law - then what was the association? This student was 18 years old and the news did not say how old the SRO person was. Did this friendship develop into something more than that? Couldn’t this person just be moved to another place? What was the l8 year old play in all of this? I am just asking because I don’t understand his terminatin.
Advertisement