Community Services Division

Captain Melissa Blanchard

The School Affairs Unit is comprised of seven (7) School Resource Officers who are assigned in four high schools and three middle schools in Berkeley County.

Officer	School
Lieutenant John Dunn	Goose Creek High
Sergeant Sean Mizner	College Park Middle
Corporal Allison Taylor	Timberland High
Corporal Charles Aucoin	Cane Bay High
Corporal Billy Traynor	Sedgefield Middle
Private First Class Harvey Mason	Cross Middle/High
Private First Class Ellen Mayer	Sangree Middle

First and foremost they are law enforcement officers. Each deputy assigned to this division has obtained their LE1 classification through the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy and were required to have a minimum of eighteen (18) months law enforcement experience prior to applying for the SRO position.

The deputies assigned to this unit receive specialized training so that they are able to complete the triad concept of the School Resource Officer (SRO).

The triad concept has three components, law enforcement, teaching and counseling.

The first and main priority for each SRO is to function in a law enforcement capacity and to assist in maintaining a safe school environment for staff and students. SRO’s do not become involved in enforcing school rules such as clothing violations.

Second, they serve as teachers in the areas of law related education and drug, alcohol and violence education. They are available, through request of any teacher or administrator, to conduct classroom education on any of the aforementioned topics as well as bullying, cyber safety, crime scene investigation, crime prevention and law related education.

Third, they are available to counsel with students, parents and staff as needed regarding any matter, law related or not.

The Berkeley County School District currently funds the deputies assigned to this unit over the 190 day contracted school year; the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office funds these positions outside the contract year.

During this time the deputies are used to supplement shortages in other areas of the agency, from working patrol, warrants, serving civil papers, conducting Sex Offender house checks, and court security.

The Duty Office is open 7 days a week, 24 hours a day. This office is comprised of six (6) civilian duty officers on rotating shifts. The Duty Officers are responsible for the main switchboard duties coming into the agency. Duty Officer’s are also responsible for taking incident reports over the phone or in person that are non-emergent in nature. Types of reports that can be taken over the phone are:

• Unlawful Use of the Telephone
• Trespassing
• Fraud
• Minor Thefts
• Motor Vehicle Thefts
• Breach of Trust
• Use of Vehicle without Owner Consent
• Harassment

Duty Officer’s are also responsible for a multitude of other duties including but not limited to:

• Monitoring of the NCIC Crime Computer
• Repossessed and Towed Vehicle Logs
• NCIC Validations
• Criminal History inquires
• DMV inquires
• Maintaining the wanted person file
• Order of Protection & Restraining Order entries
• Concealed Weapons application responses

The Records Office is located in the Sheriff’s Office and is open 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. This office will provide copies of incident reports when requested in person. Picture identification is required when requesting incident reports. There is a $2 fee for each report requested, however, reports are provided free of charge to the victim of a crime. Reports are available to the public after 1:00 p.m. two business days following the day an incident is reported. In addition to being responsible for the accurateness and storage of all documents relating to incidents occurring within the county, the Records Office is tasked with the following:

• Build and submit monthly database for submission to SLED
• Review/Validate/Print/Scan/Index and file all incident reports
• Complete all Military background checks and requests from US Probation Office
• Complete address and background checks for DSS
• Courtesy Summons records
• Answer Rule 5/Discovery requests
• Research and answer FOIA requests
• Researching dispositions
• Challenges to criminal history information
• Expungements

Sexual Offender Registry – Sex Offenders are required to register with the Sheriff’s Office in the jurisdiction that they reside. This law took effect in June of 1994 requiring that from that time a conviction for any crime outlined within the registry law would result in the mandatory registration of the offender. Persons convicted prior to the law taking place were not required to automatically register.

Each offender is required to register semi-annually with our office, in their birth month and again six months later.

At this time there are not any offenders who have been categorized as Predators, who are required to register every ninety (90) days, registered in Berkeley County.

Currently there is one deputy assigned the responsibility of compilation and verification of the Sexual Offenders residing within Berkeley County. Residential field checks are conducted at least once a year. This office also investigates violations of the registry and is responsible for obtaining warrants for offenders who have violated the laws of the registry within our county.

Currently we have nearly 280 offenders registered in Berkley County.

Sex Offender Search

Crime Prevention Office is operated by Sergeant Jimmy Ross.

Currently there are 38 active Neighborhood Crime Watches and an additional eight that are in the infancy stages of becoming organized Crime Watches.

Neighborhood Crime Watch is a crime prevention program and is one of the most effective and least costly ways of reducing and/or preventing residential property crimes. It is designed to be a community based effort to assist citizens and police in reducing crime and increasing an overall sense of peace, safety and security in the neighborhood.

Sergeant Ross is able to offer presentations on a various list of topics, such as:

• IDENTITY THEFT
• GANG AWARENESS
• LIGHTING FOR SECURITY
• CREDIT CARD FRAUD
• OPERATION IDENTIFICATION
• WORKPLACE VIOLENCE PREVENTION

For a full list of topics please call or email Sergeant Ross at
843-719-4713
jross@berkeleycountysc.gov

Sergeant Ross also is in charge organizing and conducting our “REAL DEAL” program geared toward troubled young adults. It is based on sort of the SCARED STRAIGHT concept. The parents are required to attend with the youth to the oral and video presentation portion of the program and then the youth are taken to our detention center where they are shown what life in jail would be like.

The Sheriff’s Office is conducting its third annual Deputy’s Camp, scheduled for July 12-16, 2010. This camp is geared for students 8-12 years of age and is filled with numerous activities including hands on forensics, DNR archery class, basic first aid, with demonstrations by our K-9 and Special Response Team, as well as field trips to Music in Motion and Whirlin Waters Water Park. This week long experience gives the youth an opportunity to interact with law enforcement in a relaxed atmosphere and see the officers as real people. There is a limit of 50 participants on a first come first serve basis.

Contact Information
Inquires/Questions regarding:

School Resource Officer’s or the Duty Office
Primary Contact- Captain Melissa Blanchard
843-719-4413
mblanchard@berkeleycountysc.gov

Sex Offender Registration
Primary Contact - Corporal Fred Thornton
843-719-4675
fthornton@berkeleycountysc.gov
Secondary Contact – Captain Melissa Blanchard
843-719-4413

Records
Primary Contact – Bridget Clarke
843-719-4392
Secondary Contact – Shirley Harwell
843-719-4231 OR
Gresha Austin, Records Supervisor
843-719-4418

Crime Prevention/Crime Watch
Contact – Sergeant Jimmy Ross
843-719-4713
jross@berkeleycountysc.gov