SLED chief rebuts Post series on state’s violent police culture
A series of four national opinion pieces critical of the state’s police culture has led to a rebuttal from the head of the State Law Enforcement Division.
Washington Post writer Radley Balko’s long series, mostly ignored by traditional media in South Carolina, discusses seemingly unprovoked shootings by police, training issues, court cases, settlements, insurance issues and liability caps on damages in cases involving police. He writes,
“These two factors — SLED and a cap on damages — have created a unique police culture that seems to produce a high number of shootings, disproportionate stops for minorities, frequent incidents of alleged brutality and, perhaps most disturbing, potentially false or misleading statements by police officers and strong evidence suggesting that law enforcement agencies, police leaders and SLED investigators are overlooking misconduct.”
In a request for comment by Statehouse Report, SLED Chief Mark Keel rebutted:
“We recognize the recent series in the Washington Post’s website was the writer’s position and was appropriately labeled by The Post as opinion.
“SLED welcomes constructive criticism and input to better serve the law enforcement community and the people of South Carolina. Our agency’s services are nationally and internationally recognized and accredited.
“It would be easy to take offense based on the inaccuracies and misleading information in this series. That benefits only the writer and those who want to believe that law enforcement is somehow evil.
“Our commitment to the people we serve is thoroughly and fairly investigate criminal activity. That is what has made SLED a respected and progressive law enforcement agency.”
You can read the Post series through these links:
- Part One: The death of Lori Jean Ellis (May 6, 2016)
- Part Two: As videos expose wrongdoing, S.C. police tighten control of footage (May 16, 2016)
- Part Three: Gunslinging raids, coverups and magical dog sniffs (May 31, 2016)
- Part Four: Can South Carolina’s police culture be fixed (June 2, 2016)
Haley issues 51 line-item vetoes worth $41.1 million
Gov. Nikki Haley this week issued 51 line-items to the state’s $7.5 billion budget including $4.7 million in aid to museums, cultural spots and what she called a “veiled attempt” to create a new museum in North Charleston for the furled Confederate flag removed last year from Statehouse grounds.
State Rep. Chip Limehouse, R-Charleston, had proposed that the flag be displayed with the historic H.L. Hunley submarine, not in the existing Confederate Relic Room and Museum located adjacent to the state museum in Columbia. Haley’s veto nixed a study to move the Relic Room.
The General Assembly will return June 15 to consider vetoes and bills that are in the compromise conference process.
- You can read Haley’s budget veto message here.
Senate 41 race draws scrutiny over residency
Publisher Andy Brack has written a couple of news commentaries in a sister publication, Charleston Currents, following up on a May column about squishy campaign residency laws with updates on what’s happening in the Senate 41 GOP primary, which will be held Tuesday.
- Last week, a James Island lawyer filed a residency challenge for candidate Sandy Senn. Read more here.
- On Wednesday, a state judge issued an injunction postponing a hearing requested by the lawyer. Read more here.
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