Complaint Review: Orangeburg County Sheriff's Department/Larry Williams Sheriff

Sheriff Williams, your response proves your unwillingness to help and your futile attempt at being the "concerned sheriff" that you portray in your rebuttal.

Do you remember the one and only phone call that you made to my place of employment? I'll refresh your memory. You called Coldwell Banker - Pat Williams Realty, where I was employeed at the time four days after my break-in. You told me that you were doing everything you could in the investigation to try and find out who did this to me. I was relieved and for once. I felt like I had you guys on my side. After this extremely brief statement, you told me to hold for a second. When you came back, you told me that you would call me back later that day. Sheriff, I never heard anything from you again, until you rebutted my complaint about you.

Now, Sheriff Williams, I'll help you revive your memory a bit.

A few weeks ago, about 1:00 a.m., my fiance was in the livingroom watching TV when he heard a loud clammering noise outside. He jumped up to look out the window and just as he parted the blinds, he spotted a golf cart turning just as fast as it could into my next door neighbor's front yard. He proceeded to watch two young males drive it through the yard and into the woods behind their home. Only seconds later, the same two youths were seen coming out of the woods on foot carrying a flashlight. The boys ran through the back yard....(and this is where it gets interesting).....and right into the back door of my neighbor's house!

My fiance immediately came into my bedroom and woke me up asking me to call the police immediately. So, Sheriff, that is what I did. I didn't have much information (due to my state of consciousness), but within a few minutes there were three squad cars in my driveway.

Here is what my fiance, his brother (which he called after I got off the phone with the police), and the deputies found. #1 - Tracks in the dew from the golf cart, confirming my fiance's story about the golf cart driving through the yard and into the woods. #2- A golf cart! Imagine that! My fiance and his brother got it out of the woods for the deputies and parked it in our back yard. Oh by the way, my neighbors do not own a golf cart, although they thought they did for a brief five minutes!

So Sheriff, there was an eye witness to a crime that happened in your county. Oh, and I believe all the evidence you need to finally capture these creeps and put them behind bars where they belong. We haven't heard a word about this incident since it happened. No one has come by to talk to us, no one has called. I believe that it is due to YOU. The officers that were at my house the night this happened were great. They caught the mother of those children in a lie, and overall they were very understanding and helpful. I do not believe that any of the three that were there were going to let anything go untouch and unsolved. I commend them for their work that night. But those deputies have to take orders from someone. Ahem??? Want to explain? Please tell me why my fiance and I heard it through the grapevine that the next day the golf cart was returned to the respectful owners? We have heard nothing! Yet we are the one that placed the 911 call! Wayne is the one that witness the event! He saw it all!

With all my ranting and raving about the golf cart, I have failed to tell you that I believe it was my next door neighbor's kids who broke into my house last December.

While these kids are getting away with "murder", your citizens are suffering. I believe I speak for the majority of my community (and there are numerous people here) when I say we are dissapointed in you, Sheriff. These kids have been caught with marijuana, and have been caught burglarizing other homes in this area, and somehow after our incidents, they are looked over like they don't even exist. I emphasized the word "murder" above, but Sheriff, guess what? It will happen one day, and what will you have done to make these kids abide by the law then? Is that what it will take? Should they kill someone to get your attention?

Election time is drawing near, dear Sheriff, and guess what? Our votes DO count. I am a registered voter and have been since I was old enough to vote. This is one vote that is more important to me than getting Bush re-elected. I will make sure I tell everyone my ...how did you put it...propaganda filled story. You are right, I do have a right to free speech and I intend to use it to it's fullest.

Oh, before you rebutt this one, find a case that actually relates to mine before you write.

Sherriff Williams... while I respect your loyalty to your department and its officers, and admire the fact that you stand behind your staff, I don't feel as though you have adequately addressed the original report. The original report contained some very valid concerns that you dismissed by stating they were not based in fact, but you failed to substantiate that statement.

Pretty much all organizations, public and private, have done at least one good thing in the past. I'm sure your department has countles other tales of serving the public good. To refute the original allegations by relaying an unrelated story, however, is just a cheap p.r. ploy.

Police officers should be beyond reproach. Strength of character and proffessional dedication are essential to the performance of the job. The original poster raised issues of SEVERE evidence mishandling and conduct unbecoming an officer of the law. Why is she incorrect? What has your IA done to address the concerns of the original poster? Has an investigation been done into the conduction of this investigation? It seems like basic police administrator's ethics would provoke you to investigate the merits of the complaint, so I assume that you have, and therefore have a more tangible justification for your statements than an unshaking belief in the virtue of your officers.

I'd feel much better about this situation if I had read "We have conducted an investigation into the conduct of the officer in question and found that there is no evidence to suggest that he acted in an innapropriate manner. Furthermore, this officer has a very low frequency of citizen complaints, and an exemplary conviction rate."

Unfortunately, not all police officers are good police officers, and even the best administrator can have a very hard time ensuring that his department is fully stocked with nothing but the most virtuous of people. While the above situation is certainly unfortunate, it could well be an isolated problem with a particular officer, and not indicative of the department as a whole. The question of efficacy is not so much in the presence of the bad apples, but in what is done to get them off the tree as soon as possible.

IF these are true, your fine officers were negligent in performing their duties. The victim pointed out HANDPRINTS on her mirror to the responding officer. Apparently the victim knew that the handprints had not been there before she left her home earlier in the day. Could you please explain WHY the RO did not secure the scene properly? Is this officer not trained in crime scene preservation? Why did this officer feel that this print was unimportant? In case you missed what Suzanne said, among the stolen items were WEAPONS AND AMMUNITION!!! Now, I have some questions as to why these items were not secured properly by the owner (especially if Suzanne has a child) but the issue you and your department must address now is WHY DIDN'T THE MISSING GUNS AND AMMO MATTER??? When the victim pointed out that her diary was on her pillow (apparently NOT where she keeps it), why did the RO tell her she could put it away?? And when evidence was found at a later time by the victim and friends behind her home, WHY DIDN'T THE RO PRESERVE AND GATHER THAT EVIDENCE PROPERLY?

"Methinks that perhaps one's (sic)attitude and approach have a lot to do with the type service (sic) one receives when asking for the service provided by our sheriff or police officers in solving a crime."

You keyed this in your post. May I assume these are YOUR WORDS? If I had the experience that Suzanne did, I probably wouldn't have had the greatest attitude with you or your officers either. However, what does this have to do with doing the job that the VICTIM and all others in your county are PAYING YOU AND YOUR OFFICERS FOR?? There are so many great police officers in this country who are given a bad name because of people like YOU AND YOUR FELLOW HACKS. More guilty perps go free because of LAZY, SHODDY, INCOMPETENT "POLICE WORK" like this. And we, the civilians, suffer for that every d**n day.

It appears to me that Suzanne has provided enough information for you to be able to figure out who she is exactly. She gave you the date and time of the crime. She gave you enough details to find the report filed by the officers who responded. The fact that you call this "propaganda" tells me everything.....you couldn't care less about this woman and what happened to her. I assume you are elected to this position? Suzanne, when is the next election? Get in touch with your state's AG and file complaints against these folks. Let the media know. Make it very difficult for this "man" to run again next time around.

Sheriff, you are an insult to every good law enforcement officer in this country. You should be ashamed of your "response" to Suzanne's complaints.

Thank you for the opportunity to enter this response to the rip off report advertised on your web site relative to the Orangeburg County Sheriffs Office by a Suzanne, Eutawville, South Carolina. Suzannes comments are not factually oriented and do not properly represent the performance of my office.

We at the Orangeburg County Sheriffs Office (like many law enforcement agencies across America) exist to protect and serve the citizens of our community. We are dedicated to our profession and all people located in our jurisdiction. Perhaps the viewpoint published in our local newspaper the Times and Democrat found below best illustrates this dedication:

VIEWPOINT: Sheriff's office comes through after robbery Methinks that perhaps one's attitude and approach have a lot to do with the type service one receives when asking for the service provided by our sheriff or police officers in solving a crime.

I was somewhat astounded, to say the least, by a recent letter to the editor by a Mr. Mike Potchebski (T&D, May 9) of Barnwell. He was obviously upset about not gaining the desired service of the sheriff's office in Orangeburg County. I can fully understand his outrage relative to the stealing of his wife's purse. I would have been outraged, too.

By sheer coincidence on that same day of the grievous offense against his wife, March 18, my family experienced a somewhat similar set of circumstances. Between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., someone broke into our daughter's home and stole a quantity of her belongings. About 1 p.m. the robbery was discovered and a call was made to the office of Sheriff Larry Williams. Around 3 p.m., a deputy, Mr. Hiott, met with our daughter at the scene and immediately went to work. Deputy Hiott, an officer I had never met nor heard of, called me and we discussed the case. Events began to unfold quickly.

At about 1:23 p.m. on the same day of the break-in, several young men of different ethnicity entered the pawn shop operated by Mr. E.G. Livingston in Orangeburg and attempted to dispose of certain articles in exchange for cash. While carefully examining these items for their value and other criteria used in that business, Mr. Livingston observed the name of a person connected with our family engraved within that person's graduation ring. Upon making that discovery, Mr. Livingston exclaimed something like "that person had notified that his ring was missing." At this time, the young hoods broke and fled from his shop, leaving a sackfull of loot. Things began to happen.

Mr. Livingston immediately remembered that at least one of that group had been in his shop a day or two before, offering some items for sale, items not easily traceable. Upon the purchase of these items, the shopkeeper recorded the transaction as required by law: name, address, etc. With these data, Deputy Hiott had something to work with. Within hours I was notified that he knew who he was looking for.

I have now been informed that five young hoodlums have been arrested and have had a change of address to the county jail, being held under heavy bond.

And now, as the result of the alertness of Mr. Livingston, the superb work of Deputy Hiott and others in Sheriff Larry Williams' office, not only has my family's break-in been solved, but more than 15 other cases are reported to have been linked to this gang of unscrupulous rascals.
So I say, Mr. Potchebski, perhaps approach and attitude go a long way toward dealing with people, while in search of help from our law enforcement folks. They put their lives on the line every hour for your protection.
Thanks, E.G. and Deputy Hiott.
n Sam Fogle, Orangeburg

Mr. Sam Fogle, a citizen of the County of Orangeburg submitted the above commentary and we appreciate his attitude. While Suzanne has the right to freedom of speech and the right to have her own opinion, to have such propaganda published by your company without proper research, validity testing, notification, or the requirement of a last name is certainly a rip off to the citizens of my county and law enforcement agencies across America.

Respectfully Submitted,