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Four Dorchester County men vie for sheriff's seat | News

Photo of Lina Portman Lina Portman4 weeks ago
0 6 minutes read

ST. GEORGE — The state's primary election is June 11, and four men are vying for the opportunity to represent their political party in the race for Dorchester County Sheriff's Office.

Candidates for the Dorchester County Sheriff's Office are Democrats Charles Frederick and Trumaine Moorer and Republicans Sam Richardson and Mike Turner.

Voters will decide June 11 who will compete for the county's top police officer position. Polling stations are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Residents can check their polling locations online at MySCVotes. There are 82 precincts and polling places for the 104,185 registered voters countywide.

Here's what you need to know about the candidates.

CHARLES FREDERIC:






Charles Frederick




Political party: Democrat

Age: 56

Residence: Knightsville

Experience: Frederick served four years on active duty in the Marine Corps, 25 years on the South Carolina Highway Patrol SWAT Team and Drug Task Force, and 13 years supervising the Sheriff's Office Traffic Division of Dorchester County. Frederick has owned and operated his own construction company, Patriots Management LLC, since 1991. He is a graduate of Summerville High School.

On the issues: Frederick told the Post and Courier he believes the biggest public safety concerns in the county are slow response times and illegal drugs. When it comes to gun violence and gun laws in South Carolina, he said law enforcement simply has to work with the law as it is. Carrying a firearm is a right of citizens of the state, he said, and gun owners must handle and store their weapons responsibly.

Plans and priorities if elected: The former Marine said he intends to employ more quality officers and retain them by ensuring their quality of life. That includes adding staff in split shifts to cover peak times, which he said would reduce both response times and the hours officers spend in their vehicles. He said he plans to create a drug task force that would target trafficking along the two major highways, Interstate 26 and Interstate 95, as well as in the area around the corridor from Walterboro to Charleston .

Candidates for sheriff compete for strengths and strategies in debate

TRUMAINE MOREUR:






Trumaine Moorer




Political party: Democrat

Age: 51

Residence: Saint George

Experience: Moorer resigned from his job at the now-closed Wamer Funeral Home Mortuary in St. George to begin his law enforcement career as a correctional officer at the Dorchester County Jail. He became a traffic deputy and sergeant, then joined the St. George Police Department where he served as a lieutenant and second officer in charge. He was named acting head of the department and held this position for a year.

He later joined the College of Charleston Police Department. When the COVID pandemic prompted the college to offer severance packages to a number of employees, Moorer accepted the severance and a night job at the Holcim Holly Hill cement plant so he could run for the state seat. sheriff. He is one of the plant's production supervisors and is a graduate of Gupton-Jones College of Funeral Service near Atlanta.

On the issues: In an interview, Moorer said he believes gangs and gun violence are Dorchester County's biggest public safety issues. He said he doesn't think the state's new permitless carry law adds to gun violence, but he believes gang activity does. Moorer expressed the opinion that the unlicensed carry law makes law enforcement's job more difficult to the extent that the split-second decisions officers are required to make during altercations become more dangerous when a citizen is armed.

Plans and priorities if elected: In order to mitigate gun violence and implement more effective community outreach to area youth, Moorer said he believes the sheriff's office should recruit formerly incarcerated gang members as outreach officers. He said the increased reliability and experience of these officers would have a greater positive impact on young people's choices.

He said he also thinks the department could help expunge criminal records to help people with criminal records have a better chance of getting a job, and would like to create a cold case unit to dig deeper into unsolved crimes. Moorer said he will emphasize the customer service aspect of law enforcement to build better relationships with the community.

SAM RICHARDSON:






Sam Richardson.




Political party: Republican

Age: 57

Residence: Summerville

Experience: Richardson is the current chief deputy for the Dorchester County Sheriff's Office, a position he has held for 16 years. He has 31 years of law enforcement experience with four different sheriffs and has also served as a deputy, detective and investigator. He was hired at DCSO by former Sheriff JC Woodberry.

Richardson is a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel and armor officer who was commissioned into military service in 1990. He served in the Army Reserve for 30 years. He is a graduate of Summerville High School, holds a bachelor's degree in history from South Carolina State University and is a graduate of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College.

On the issues: Richardson said in an interview that the county's top public safety concerns include school safety, the opioid crisis, the growing homeless population and scams targeting seniors.

Regarding gun violence and the state's new permitless carry law, Richardson said he and his deputies have not seen an increase in gun violence under that law. As a lifelong avid hunter and fisherman, he considers himself a “pro Second Amendment guy.” He said the department has strong relationships with the community because residents are good at reporting concerns. In that spirit of cooperation, he said, gun owners can help by properly securing their guns when they're not carrying them.

Plans and priorities if elected: Richardson said he plans to improve what he describes as a “robust” drone program, continuing to modernize investigative techniques, adding deputies to the department's roster, increase neighborhood patrols and work closely with the district attorney's office to keep violent offenders behind bars. He said he would like to implement continuing education for all officers so they can intervene with people suffering from mental health issues. He also intends to maintain the department's community relations and “cross-talk” between deputies and residents.

SC Ranks 4th in Nation in Rate of Private Gun Theft, National Report Reveals

MIKE TURNER:






Mike Turner




Political party: Republican

Age: 60

Residence: Summerville

Experience: Turner is the director of public safety and chief of police at The Citadel. He began his career in 1990 with the Summerville Police Department and rose to the position of Deputy Chief. He then worked as a deputy in the Dorchester County Sheriff's Office under Sheriff Ray Nash and became its third officer and director of operations in 1998. He remained with DCSO until 2008, when he assumed the role of Director of Safety, Security and Emergency Management for Dorchester School District 2. He held this position for 10 years.

Turner holds a bachelor of science degree (The Citadel) and a master's degree (American Intercontinental University, an online degree program) in business administration. He is also a graduate of the Federal Bureau of Investigations Academy.

On the issues: Turner told the Post and Courier that much crime, violent or otherwise, is fueled by mental health issues, drug and alcohol addiction or a combination of both. With that in mind, he said he believes the county's biggest public safety concerns involve illegal drugs, with fentanyl being the biggest problem right now.

The other major concern, he said, is school safety. Regarding gun violence and the no-carry law, Turner said guns have always been there and good people carry them. The way to handle the situation is to train MPs to communicate in a way that defuses tensions, he said.

Plans and priorities if elected: Turner said he plans to strengthen the department's community-oriented policing, which he said builds officer loyalty by boosting morale. He said he intends to increase transparency by releasing incident reports as a policy, unless the incident involves a juvenile sex crime or releasing the report would harm to an ongoing investigation.

He said he would have 25 deputies on patrol 24 hours a day and would add a full-time school resource officer to every campus that wants one. He said he would strengthen interdiction teams to combat illegal drug trafficking and train officers on the trafficking signs to look for during traffic stops. He also said he believes in creating a department that treats all residents with respect, regardless of color, gender, sexual orientation or religion.

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Photo of Lina Portman Lina Portman4 weeks ago
0 6 minutes read
Photo of Lina Portman

Lina Portman

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