SANGAREE, S.C. – The community celebrated the opening of the new Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office substation in Sangaree with a ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday.
The substation is the sixth facility of its kind across Berkeley County.
“To the community, thank you for being here. Thank you for supporting us and being here when we need you; and we do need you, more than ever. I want to thank my good friend, the lieutenant governor. You really support law enforcement, and we need all the support we can get,” Sheriff Duane Lewis said during the ceremony.
“This building here, it may not look like much, but it’s ours and we appreciate it; and we’re going to put it to good use. You’ll see deputies more often in your community,” he continued.
Lt. Governor Pamela Evette also attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony. She thanked deputies who “stand on that thin blue line” to keep their communities safe every day.
“I hear it from our law enforcement all over – when you have a good community presence, when people know where you are, when they know where your heart is, and they can trust you, it just makes a community better and stronger,” Evette added.
SEE ALSO:
- Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office Substation Opens for the Alvin Community
- New Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office Substation Opens In Cross
According to Lewis, substations better serve citizens, enabling deputies to quickly complete reports/paperwork without having to travel back and forth to headquarters in Moncks Corner.
Also, their convenient locations promote the reduction of call response times, provide visibility in their communities, assist with community outreach and overall help deter crime, the sheriff’s office said.
“There’s a mission statement posted on the substation wall that says, ‘Taking care of people.’ I don’t think you’ll find another sheriff or sheriff’s department anywhere in our state that takes care of and works with people better. These substations are a phenomenal resource and way to connect with the community,” Berkeley County Supervisor Johnny Cribb said.
“This has been a long time coming. It’s going to help this community and surrounding communities be a part of the sheriff’s office in gathering information and taking care of problems,” Tommy Newell, Berkeley County Councilman for District 4, said. “Seeing deputies parked here gives the community a sense of security.”
Located at 347 Sangaree Parkway in Summerville, the Sangaree substation will serve the communities of Sangaree, Tall Pines and Nexton. It will be manned by members of the Sheriff’s Office Citizens’ Advisory Board.
The board is comprised of 25 members who work in our communities and meet quarterly with Sheriff Lewis to relay citizen complaints.
“They take your complaints and funnel them to me. The deputies you see in these substations go after those problems. What better community policing model do you have when you have the citizens, the citizen leaders, and the law enforcement working together?” Sheriff Lewis said.
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