By Mallory Cage
Edited by Corbin Ensminger
State Law Enforcement Division Chief Mark Keel wants to take the agency back to what he says it was designed to do - – provide assistance to local law enforcement.
"They depend on us to provide man power and technical expertise, but over the past few years that just hasn't happened," Keel said Tuesday after his confirmation hearing for a full four-year term was postponed by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
SLED began in 1947 as a way to help law enforcement in the rural areas that made up most of South Carolina, but Keel says in recent years the agency has been too focused on the urban areas.
"SLED is an assisting agency," he said. "Even if someone lives in Bluffton, they should get the same service you get in the city of Columbia."
Keel says the relationships he's been building throughout his entire career will be the biggest factor in getting the agency back on track.
"This is my 35th year, and when you've been doing this for this long you build trust," Keel said. "The only thing I've done is what I've done my whole career."
Keel worked for SLED for 29 years before leaving in 2008 to run the Department of Public Safety.
He was appointed to SLED's top job in July to fill out the term of Chief Reggie Lloyd, who stepped down.
Tuesday's confirmation hearing was postponed because a Senate session ran late. There has been no indicated opposition to reappointing him.
Jeffery Moore, executive director of the South Carolina Sheriff's Association, said Keel's first seven months as SLED chief have gone well.
"He's made very positive changes especially in establishing good relationships with local law enforcements," Moore said. "I don't think he's had a misstep yet."
Keel said he also plans to focus on expanding SLED's forensic lab and getting back into alcohol enforcement.
"When I left SLED in 2008, there were 120 scientists working in our labs;, now there are 95," Keel said. "The work that we do is used all over the state in the court systems, and my goal is to get back to providing that support."
When Keel left SLED in 2008, the agency's budget was $36.5 million. This year it's $23.5 million, the result of the state's economic problems that have forced severe cutbacks at all state agencies. SLED has requested $31.5 million for this fiscal year, which starts July 1.
