First he left ‘Live PD’. Now Kevin Lawrence is leaving the RCSD
Kevin Lawrence, one of the most beloved deputies on the A&E documentary series “Live PD” before he left the show in 2018, is now leaving the Richland County Sheriff’s Department.
“Today is his last day,” Cynthia Rolden, a spokeswoman for the department, said Friday.
She added that Lawrence, a 12-year veteran of the department, resigned without stating a reason.
Lawrence was not available for comment. But he said in a tweet: “Thanks for the memories @RCSD, time for a new chapter!”
Lawrence was a deputy at the department when he began appearing on the series in 2016. But in July 2018, he was promoted to investigator in the department’s criminal investigations division. The promotion meant Lawrence would no longer patrol the streets on the hit show.
“I’ve been on the show for close to two years,” Lawrence said at the time. “Signing up to be in law enforcement, this show has brought a lot of notoriety to me, but at the same time I’m a private person.”
His levelheadedness, quick wit and no-nonsense personality made Lawrence a hit among fans, who dubbed him “Mr. Cool” and “K-Law.”
But when he left the show, Lawrence said he wasn’t seeking fame or constant public recognition when he entered law enforcement years ago as a reserve deputy in Aiken County.
“I can’t do the daily activities that most people do without getting recognized,” he said. “I’m a quiet person for the most part. I’m a private person. I’m a loner, whether people believe it or not. I’m always by myself. I like to be to myself. It was just kind of interfering a little bit.”
Throughout two seasons on the show, Lawrence delivered a number of heart-to-hearts, one liners and animated facial expressions.
His favorite call on the show, though, was a traffic stop on Two Notch Road in 2017, he said when he left the show.
Lawrence and then-Senior Deputy Chris Mastrianni pulled over a pickup carrying two brothers, one of whom was celebrating his birthday. The passenger threw a can of beer out of the truck.
“Usually when people that have been drinking or driving are pulled over, they try to throw the alcohol away from the car,” Lawrence said at the time. “This guy was so intoxicated, he just threw it at Mastrianni.”
The driver at one point looked into the camera, his hands cuffed behind his back, and professed his love for a woman named “Keisha.”
“I couldn’t stop laughing,” Lawrence recalled. “I had to hold myself back. It was the funniest stop ever.”