Pine Ridge, SC (Paul Kirby) – After the police chief of Pine Ridge’s Police Department resigned Wednesday night, the Town of Pine Ridge said via social media that they could not publicly speak about why the chief was unhappy enough to take this action because it was a personnel matter. This is not unusual with matters that involve an employee that works for any government agency or other entity.
The post went on to suggest that there is some ongoing South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) investigation into happenings in the Town of Pine Ridge. The post did not reveal who or what was being investigated.
There have been several actions filed in court or to the appropriate state agency, board, or commission by former police department staff members over the past several years. There has also been a number of accusations made against the mayor and council by former employees of the town covered in the local media during the same period. Those normally involved the mayor meddling in the day-to-day operations of the police department. However, one action included alleged slanderous comments regarding a former officer on social media or in public.
In all cases, what has been reported in the local electronic media source The Lexington Ledger have been the personal remarks of former employees. All those employees have either resigned or been let go. One citizen of the town, speaking on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal, said Thursday after the news of the latest chief’s resignation broke, “They either have a serious problem with the way the town’s elected officials act in regard to the police department, or they have a serious problem with their hiring process. Either way, there needs to be some changes made at town hall regarding their attitude toward or the policies of the town regarding hiring and firing with the Pine Ridge Police Department.”
We will continue to follow what is happening with the Town of Pine Ridge and its police department and keep the public updated as the situation requires.
