Walterboro Chief of Police No Longer with City
Walterboro, S.C. – Otis Rhodes, who has served the City of Walterboro for the past twenty one years and has spent the last nine as chief of police and public safety director, has been relieved of his duties there, effective today.
During his tenure, important changes helped to move the Public Safety Department forward. Rhodes implemented combining the police and fire departments into one department; responded to a sharp increase in violent crime and helped to bring it down to some of the lowest levels in twenty years; and recently achieved an ISO 3 fire rating.
City Administrator Jeff Lord noted, “We are grateful to Otis for his contributions, but the time has come for someone else to continue the progress that has been made and to pave the way for even more in the future. There’s work to be done, and I am confident the City and its citizens will be best served by new leadership in the public safety department.”
Ken Dasen, Deputy Sheriff, who has been with the department 15 years, will serve as interim director until a replacement is in place.
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