MARLBORO COUNTY, SC (WPDE) -- The Marlboro County Sheriff's Office (MCSO) has been busy over the past seven months under the administration of Sheriff Larry McNeil.
Chief Deputy Larry Turner said they've continued to rebuild and restore the sheriff's office staff to full capacity.
"Despite the challenges posed by adjacent agencies increasing their pay scales, the council has been diligently working to provide us with opportunities to enhance salaries, and we have strategically eliminated a deputy and investigator position to explore ways to increase competitive wages for the entire sheriff's office," Turner said.
He added they've subsequently lost a few individuals, "who opted to align with other organizations for monetary or philosophical reasons."
McNeil added they've made 147 arrests, served 567 warrants, and served 1,741 civil papers, which does not calculate the many attempts and the people they're not able to find over the past seven months.
Since January, deputies have responded to 4,397 calls for service.
MORE: Mullins vs. Lake View | Friday Night Rivals High School Football Game of the Week
"We have continued to push opioid awareness and preventive measures, and community programs in public forums, as well as gearing up in the schools and the detention center. We continue to aggressively pursue and arrest drug dealers and make solid, convictable cases for the solicitor's office to prosecute. Fortunately, we don't have any unsolved murders, but unfortunately, murders have occurred, and one is too many," said Turner.
The department shared the following statement on social media:
"We are committed to sustaining our collaborative efforts with external partners to identify opportunities for enhancing the sheriff's office, including our ongoing drone program, K9 and SRT unit, as well as community outreach initiatives. These programs are being funded through donations and partnership contributions, which do not impact our budget or require county funding. We have identified funds previously allocated by the county's financial operations that can be utilized to support the sheriff's office, thereby benefiting taxpayers by repurposing funds from other areas for salary increases related to civil process.
Upon assuming office, Sheriff McNeil established a partnership with the United States Marshal's office to house federal inmates, generating revenue that, after reimbursing the county for its costs, is used to provide a bonus to detention center and sheriff's office staff each November. He is dedicated to exploring strategies to maintain a competitive law enforcement agency that attracts exceptional law enforcement personnel and detention center staff. Deputies and investigators are building trust in the community; one way we have had a positive impact is through the use of our Facebook page as a tool that has drawn attention, leading to numerous arrests and positive information that has assisted us in solving crimes.
We have had to assist the town of McColl, which is without a police department, and we answer an enormous number of calls in that municipality, which at times has slowed our response time in other areas of the county. However, we understand the need for law enforcement in the municipality. We continue to assist the town of Clio, but Chief Freeman, the Mayor, and the council of Clio have done a great job of reducing our effort to just assisting with one 24-hour shift, during which we answer calls while they take a day off. Investigators with the sheriff's office have a great working relationship with the Bennettsville Police Department detectives division, as well as the deputies and police officers. The working relationship has seen a tremendous positive change with the new hiring of Police Chief Crosland and Sheriff McNeil through open lines of constructive dialogue.
Property crime and domestic violence are still the front runners in crime statistics, and we continue to make arrests and recover property, but we still see it trending upward even with the dedication the deputies and investigators take to working them diligently. We are getting more marked vehicles visible with each hire and hope that with the increase in pay, we can now see some consistent visibility throughout the entire county. Sheriff McNeil and the staff of the Marlboro County Sheriff's office are truly dedicated to the citizens of this county as we are here to enforce the law for all individuals in a fair and impartial way. We will have those bumps in the road, but we will continue to be transparent and open as we continue to publish the positive as well as the preferred bumps in the road. We must learn from our mistakes to improve ourselves so as not to jeopardize the trust in those who trust us to fulfill our moral and ethical duty to enforce fair law."