Batesburg-Leesville, S.C. 12/04/2021 – The Batesburg-Leesville Police Department’s Chief of Police W. Wallace Oswald was recently honored with the South Carolina Law Enforcement Officers Association (SCLEOA) Lifetime Achievement Award.
Annually, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Officers Association (SCLEOA) recognizes one law enforcement officer throughout the State of South Carolina who has served the law enforcement profession generously and unselfishly throughout their many years of service. The Lifetime Achievement Award commemorates a nominee’s exemplary talents and contributions to law enforcement in South Carolina. For 2021, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Officers Association (SCLEOA) has selected Chief of Police, W. Wallace Oswald of the Batesburg-Leesville Police Department to receive this honor.
Chief Oswald began his law enforcement career serving as an officer for the Batesburg Police Department in 1976. He was chosen to lead the Batesburg Police Department as the agency’s Chief of Police in 1980. Chief Oswald continued to serve as the agency’s Chief until the Town of Batesburg and the Town of Leesville consolidated in 1993. A that time he was once again chosen to lead the newly consolidated Batesburg-Leesville Police Department as its Chief. He has continued to serve in this position to this present day.
During his tenure as Chief, Oswald has implemented numerous agency initiatives and programs that has improved the quality of life for the citizens of Batesburg-Leesville. He’s done this while continually improving the standards and professionalism of the Batesburg-Leesville Police Department.
An example of one such initiative through the leadership of Chief Oswald, included the transition from revolvers to auto pistols, for which the Batesburg Police Department was recognized as one of the first law enforcement agencies in South Carolina to accomplish this transition. Chief Oswald additionally led the Batesburg Police Department as the first city in Lexington County to establish a Juvenile Arbitration Program, as well as to become one of the first agency’s in the state to issue bullet resistant vests to its officers. He has continually monitored law enforcement innovations in technology and has sought to implement this cutting-edge technology to meet the continuously changing needs of the Batesburg-Leesville Community through diligence and resourcefulness.
Chief Oswald has continuously served the Batesburg-Leesville Community as a law enforcement officer for more than 45 years. More than 42 of those years he’s held the Chief of Police position for both the Batesburg Police Department and the Batesburg-Leesville Police Department. During that time, Chief Oswald graduated from the 147th Session of the prestigious FBI National Academy in Quantico, Virginia, in 1986. He was additionally the recipient of the Order the Silver Crescent in 2010, as well as the recipient of the Strom Thurmond Award for Excellence in Law Enforcement in 2016. Chief Oswald is also a US Army Veteran, having served on active duty from 1971 to 1974. Chief Oswald later served in the South Carolina National Guard beginning in 1988, receiving Bronze Star with Oak Leaf Cluster and the Legion of Merit during Operation Iraqi Freedom and while serving in Afghanistan. Chief Oswald retired from the South Carolina National Guard in 2011.
The influence and leadership that Chief of Police W. Wallace Oswald has provided to the South Carolina law enforcement profession has made a reverberating impact upon an immeasurable number of law enforcement officers across South Carolina over his many years of service. His influence upon law enforcement officers and the Batesburg-Leesville Community will be felt for many generations to come. Chief W. Wallace Oswald stated that “he is deeply honored and humbled by this honor.”
The South Carolina Law Enforcement Officers Association (SCLEOA) Lifetime Achievement Award was bestowed upon Chief of Police W. Wallace Oswald during the South Carolina Law Enforcement Conference on Friday, November 19, 2021, in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
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