BERKELEY COUNTY, S.C. – The Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office along with county and state leaders celebrated the opening of its new forensic services building Monday afternoon with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
“It’s going to really help us streamline our processes. Folks have been in cramped spaces for many years, and this is going to enable them to collectively work together on one or several crime scenes at one time and process that evidence,” Sheriff Duane Lewis said during the event.
According to county officials, the new 6,850 sq. foot building, which is located behind the sheriff’s office on North Live Oak Drive in Moncks Corner, is nearly three times the size of the old evidence building.
It offers several new features including a new public lobby and conference room and will help strengthen services for the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office.
Lewis said his deputies worked out of the department’s old crime lab – which was just under 2,000 sq. feet – for more than 20 years. As Berkeley County continues to experience heavy population growth, Lewis said the sheriff’s office must grow with it.
“We were totally out of evidence storage,” Lewis said. “We had to purchase a container to store evidence in until this place could be built. So we were in dire need of some type of facility.”
The new facility will also help streamline daily evidence input through the expansion of the packaging room and forensic laboratories, county officials said.
County officials said many additions were made, including a new vehicle lift, conditioned garage, and back-up generator. These features will help provide a more functional and secure workplace to examine vehicles and larger evidence.
The new building will also offer additional room to house evidence and will offer support space for Berkeley County Sherriff’s Office Forensic Team as it investigates and researches cases around the county.
“We started talking about this project back in 2015 when I was elected,” Lewis added. “This facility represents the next level for us in how we operate, how we take care of our citizens and how we prepare ourselves for court cases.”
The $1.25 million building project was paid for out of the county’s 2016 general obligation bond, County Supervisor Johnny Cribb said during the event.
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