West Columbia taps a new chief of police
The city of West Columbia has named a new police chief.
The West Columbia City Council selected Marion Boyce as the city’s new top cop. According to a release, Boyce has been working for the West Columbia Police Department since 2006. Before that, he served in the U.S. Army as a nuclear, biological, and chemical operations specialist. His most recent assignment at the West Columbia department was as an administrative captain.
“I am honored to be entrusted with this amazing opportunity to further serve the city of West Columbia and the police department,” Boyce said in a statement. “I am grateful for the support from the mayor, the city council, and the city administrator. I look forward to working with them and our great community to continue to provide and enhance a culture of proactive community policing, and to provide a quality police service to all our residents and guests.”
Boyce will take the spot that has long been held by Dennis Tyndall, who announced earlier this summer that he was retiring. Tyndall was the longest serving chief in West Columbia’s history, and Mayor Tem Miles said in a release that Tyndall has shown “consistent, exemplary leadership.”
The hiring of Boyce comes in the same week that neighboring Cayce also tapped a new police chief. Longtime Richland County Sheriff’s deputy Chris Cowan is taking the Cayce gig.
Boyce is an active member of the South Carolina Training Officers’ Association, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Officers’ Association, and the Lexington County Law Enforcement Officers’ Association, and since 2018 has been the liaison for the University of South Carolina’s College of Social Work outreach program.
