Charleston Sheriff Kristin Graziano envisions new era of policing as she takes office
After she made history by being sworn in as the first elected female sheriff and first openly gay sheriff in South Carolina, Charleston County Sheriff Kristin Graziano spoke of a shared vision to restore trust between communities and law enforcement.
It was a commitment Graziano made on the campaign trail in 2020, a year of sustained social justice protests not seen since the civil rights era.
In her first speech after being sworn in inside the Charleston County Courthouse on Monday morning, Graziano discussed the hopes she shares with the more than 111,570 Charleston County residents who elected her to office.
“They hope that we will restore the community’s faith and trust in our profession. They have hope that we will work together to unify, to protect and serve no matter what our differences,” said Graziano, who has called for a racial bias audit of the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office.
“They have hope that the people in uniform that are sworn to protect and serve look like them and understand them,” Graziano said of Charleston County residents. “They have hope because they believe it’s never too late to change, to forgive and to be our best selves.”
In November, Graziano defeated longtime Sheriff Al Cannon, a figure synonymous with the office itself. He has served as sheriff of Charleston County for 32 years.
Graziano, who ran as a Democrat, ushers in leadership change at one of the largest law enforcement agencies in the state. She hopes to transform it into a more transparent and accessible agency.
Monday’s swearing-in actually spanned two events: one held at 10 a.m. inside the office of Clerk of Court Julie Armstrong, and a more formal but socially distanced ceremony inside the historic Charleston courthouse with family and friends.
The oath of office was administered by Michèle Patrão Forsythe, a family court judge and a first-generation American.
Before Graziano raised her right hand and took the oath of office, the only other women who had called themselves sheriff in this state had been appointed to the job, with most taking over on an interim basis after a sheriff had died.
In 1935, Mae Gasque became the first woman to take on the role after her husband, the Marion County sheriff, died in a car accident.
Elizabeth Graziano, Kristin Graziano’s wife, held the Bible as Graziano was sworn into office. The two shared a quick smile before Graziano took the oath of office.
It was the culmination of a campaign in which Graziano cultivated her image as a change-maker intent on repairing relationships between police and communities of color, while also pledging to create a better working environment for members of law enforcement.
She has also promised to end Charleston County’s participation in a federal immigration enforcement program with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Known as 287(g), the program allows county sheriffs to help federal authorities deport immigrants living in the United States without authorization.
“Despite all that has happened in this past year, in 2020, I have more hope than ever that we’re going to be just fine. We’re going to be fine as a community that’s fractured, as a profession that’s flawed and as a people who are forgiving,” Graziano said.
Graziano’s career in law enforcement began in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 1988 — the same year Cannon’s tenure as Charleston County sheriff began. Graziano defeated Cannon in November, when she received 51.6% of the vote.
With her installation as sheriff, Graziano joins several other women who hold elected positions in Charleston County’s justice system: Solicitor Scarlett Wilson, newly elected coroner Bobbi Jo O’Neal, and Armstrong, who has served as county clerk of court since her election in 1992.
Graziano, though, is the only Democrat among them.
In welcoming attendees to the more formal swearing-in event, Armstrong called it an “auspicious occasion” and noted that it was a fitting setting for the new sheriff as she “makes history.”
Though Graziano was sworn in on Monday morning, she won’t officially take over the office until midnight Tuesday.
Other members of law enforcement will be sworn in under her new administration throughout the day on Tuesday via video recordings, a precaution taken to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus.
Toward the end of her remarks on Monday, Graziano gestured to a saxophone in the room to her left. She said it represented her father, who she said was absent in her life until the final years of his own. Three weeks before he died, Graziano said she and her wife traveled to New York to talk to him.
“I had to tell him that I’ve forgiven him,” she said, adding that she knew she might not ever be able to tell him that again.
She then invited her friend, Chris Williams, to come up and play the saxophone, which had belonged to her father. Williams played a jazz rendition of the song “Hallelujah” by Leonard Cohen, and the warm tones filled the room. When the song was over, attendees cheered and applauded their new sheriff, as she officially began her first term.
This story was originally published January 4, 2021 at 11:45 AM.
