S.C law enforcement provides comprehensive look at training methods - WCBD News 2

COLUBLIA, S.C. (WCBD) – Scrutiny of law enforcement and training practices has increased over the last few years following a number of officer-involved deaths and shootings across the country. Leaders say while there are bad acts in every profession, the incidents have led to improved training methods they think will turn the narrative around.

The death of George Floyd nationally, then Jamal Sutherland in the Lowcountry coming just years after the shooting of Walter Scott has sparked demands locally for change to the law enforcement training process.
Agencies say it’s something they’re working to address and believe South Carolina is ahead of the curve.

Violent crime in South Carolina saw an increase in 2021, homicides alone were up 25%. Law enforcement says it’s something they’re working to address.

“Because those are extra lives lost that we do not like to happen,” says Jackie Swindler, Director of the South Carolina Justice Academy in Columbia. “Could it be better? Always. Everything could be better.”

With the increase in crime has come a decrease of overall trust in law enforcement nationwide. Director Swindler says rebuilding trust between law enforcement and the community starts with weeding out bad acts.

“We hold officers accountable in this state, there are a lot of states that do not do that,” says Swindler. “We do here. We police the police.”

Every officer in South Carolina completes training at the Criminal Justice Academy (CJA). The training includes four weeks at home and an eight week course of classroom work and practical situations simulations at the academy’s several acre Crisis Village.

At the academy, officers go through firearms training, driving, practical situation simulations and more before graduation and returning to their agency where some undergo more training.

“They get to replicate a number of the calls or situations that they’re going to face when they get out there,” says Swindler.

Locally, the Charleston Police Department (CPD) has one of the longest training programs, requiring 34 weeks of various training before certifying them for duty.

“We can spend 34 weeks in training but you still may ever have every single type of response or exposure to every single type of call service you might encounter,” says Sergeant Joseph Harvill, Professional Development and Training Coordinator for CPD.

Both the CJA and CPD use virtual training to simulate under pressure decision making, practicing de-escalation and more. Leaders believe it’s something that’s making a difference.

“In 2021 we had 263,000 calls for service and out those calls for service, we had 306 use of force incidents.

Statewide, South Carolina has more than 14,000 officers. Last year there were 155 allegations of misconduct and with tens of thousands of hours of training conducted last year at the academy, Swindler believes changing the narrative means continual training and change.

“We’re not going to do what we’ve always done and expect different results,” says Swindler. “We’re going to be striving to stay pertinent on the cutting edge and utilizing everything that we can.”

Law enforcement officials are hopeful the perspective of the badge will change with the times while keeping up with new approaches for training those sworn to protect and serve.

“Stay on top of it and we can always, always do better in a manner where we’re giving back to our officers and we’re giving back to our communities,” says Harvill.

“They can’t do it alone, they need the community to be supportive and be on their side,” says Swindler.

The Charleston Police Department does continual leadership and regular 40-hour training every two weeks for all officers within the department.

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