Johnson promoted to Chief Deputy, vows to fight for higher officer wages – Walterboro Live

BY HEATHER WALTERS

Longtime Colleton County law enforcement officer Gean Johnson has been promoted to Chief Deputy of the Colleton County Sheriffs Office.

In his new role, the 29-year law enforcement veteran is a leader within the department. He was promoted to the high-ranking position by newly-elected Sheriff Buddy Hill.

Acting in his new role as Chief Deputy, Johnson is working with Hill on several initiatives. One of these is working towards higher wages for Colletons law enforcement officers.

Officers encounter life-threatening events regularly while performing their duties, said Johnson. Currently, Sheriff Hill and I are devoted to working with County Council to increase officers salaries. This increase will invite more qualified applicants to apply within our agency due to having a competitive salary with surrounding counties, allowing us to fill vacant positions more efficiently.

Additionally, filling these vacancies enhances officer safety and increases officer presence within the community, he said.

In addition to seeking those higher wages, Johnson and Hill are also working to increase the local departments K9 fleet.

According to Hill, he would like to have a team of bloodhounds added to the sheriffs office, which he said are an invaluable tool in finding lost children or dementia patients, as well as offenders.

Additionally, the sheriff would like to bring the total number of narcotics-and-tracking canines to four K-9 officers, he said.

In working toward that goal, the sheriffs office recently gained one K9 officer a law-enforcement certified German Shepherd named Mako. Mako, who is two years old, came to Colleton from nearby Jasper County: his handler is Deputy Raymond Davis, who also returned to the local sheriffs office from Jasper County.

Mako is trained to detect narcotics, track offenders, and find lost children or adults. He is also trained to apprehend a fleeing offender and in-handler protection, according to Davis.

According to Hill, having K-9 officers within the sheriffs office is essential.

They are an essential tool, not just for the Law Enforcement Officer, but for the community, as well, he said. Canine Officers are used locally for many different reasons, from search-and-rescue to fighting the local war on drugs, said Hill.

A K-9 has the ability and training to find missing and lost people and to bring them home safe. K-9 officers are a vital part of our fight against drugs. Without them, we are constrained with our human ability to find drugs in a building, vehicle, or anywhere for that matter, he said. K-9s have more scent capabilities than humans. Therefore, they can detect the odor of narcotics, and in most cases, theyre hidden.

In his new role as Chief Deputy, Johnson is working with Hill toward accomplishing these two goals.

Johnson began his career in 1992 as a detention officer with the Colleton County Detention Center. From there, he transitioned to patrol and then obtained his law enforcement certification through the S.C. Criminal Justice Academy.

During my tenure within the Sheriffs Office, I was a shift Sergeant over the road patrol division, then became a Sergeant within the investigations division, he said.

Johnson switched his focus to investigations and has worked on many cases within the county. During my time in investigations, I excelled in my work, rose through the ranks, and became the captain of the CID (Criminal Investigations Division) and the civil process division, he said.

In 2014, Johnson spent a year working with the Dorchester County Sheriffs Office. But, he said his love for Colleton County brought him back.

My passion for law enforcement resides in helping the citizens in my home-town of Colleton, he said. As a result, I accepted a Walterboro Police Department position as a corporal in investigations. In the fall of 2020, I received a promotion to Sergeant.

As the Chief Deputy, Johnson said he plans to continue working hand-in-hand with Sheriff Hill, who was elected to his seat in November of 2020.

We want to build and strengthen relationships with other law enforcement agencies, including our municipalities in the county, said Johnson. I want to do this using my skills and knowledge acquired during my 29 years of service to continue bridging the gap between law enforcement and our citizens.

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Johnson promoted to Chief Deputy, vows to fight for higher officer wages - Walterboro Live