Midlands city taps veteran officer to be police chief
A Midlands city has a new top cop.
Cayce has named Chris Cowan, a nearly three-decade law enforcement veteran, as its next police chief. Cowan has been with the Richland County Sheriff’s Department for more than 25 years and most recently was RCSD’s deputy chief of operations.
The sheriff’s department said other duties Cowan has had through the years include leading special operations, homeland security, crime suppression, professional development, community policing, media relations and business and community crime prevention units.
The move comes as current Cayce Director of Public Safety Byron Snellgrove is set to retire in December. Snellgrove has been in law enforcement for more than 35 years and has been in Cayce since 1997. Cowan will work alongside Snellgrove until his December exit, according to a Facebook post from the city of Cayce.
Snellgrove said Cowan is the right man for the job.
“He will lead our department with the community-based policing and high-level professionalism that the City of Cayce is known for,” Snellgrove said in the social media post. “He is someone I have worked with for many years, and I know he will bring the same level of compassion and service to this department that he has to the Richland County Sheriff’s Department.”
Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott admitted seeing Cowan leave the sheriff’s department to head across the Congaree River to Cayce is a “bittersweet” moment.
“Chief Cowan will be missed but it’s like watching one of your children achieve their goal,” Lott said in a release. “I have no doubt he will serve the citizens of Cayce with the same professionalism and integrity as he’s done for Richland County.”
