Midlands police chief stepping down after 45 years on the force
Batesburg-Leesville’s long-time police chief is stepping down this year after more than four decades in law enforcement.
Wallace Oswald has been the only chief the small Lexington County town has had since Batesburg and Leesville merged in 1993. Before that, the Batesburg native had served as chief of his hometown force since 1980. Now his long tenure in the community will come to an end with his retirement on June 30, the police department announced Monday.
Oswald has spent most of his time in law enforcement as the chief. He first joined the Batesburg department in 1976, after serving in the U.S. Army from 1971 to 1974, after receiving his draft notice during the Vietnam War.
Oswald is a true native. He was born in a Batesburg doctor’s office in 1951, so he can say he’s been in the town from his first moments.
“My kids couldn’t get over the fact I was not born in a hospital,” Oswald said. “I’ve always been a part of this community. I was raised here, went to school here, raised my kids here.”
On top of his long law enforcement career, Oswald was also a member of the S.C. National Guard from 1988 to 2011, and deployed at different times to both Afghanistan and Iraq with his unit. He was awarded the Legion of Merit and a Bronze Star with oak leaf cluster during his service.
“When I first joined, we only deployed for hurricane duty,” Oswald said. “Then when these later wars broke out, that changed things and I ended up with deployment. But I had good people back here I had trained to rely on.”
In 2010, Gov. Mark Sanford awarded Oswald the Order of the Silver Crescent. He later added the Strom Thurmond Award for Excellence in Law Enforcement and, just last year, the S.C. Law Enforcement Officers Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
“Words can’t express what Chief Oswald has brought to our community as police chief,” said Batesburg-Leesville Town Manager Ted Luckadoo in a statement. “He is a wonderful chief and human being. While I am excited for him and his upcoming retirement, it’s also sad to see him go. He is leaving behind a great organization and his shoes will be hard to fill.”
Oswald said he would tell Batesburg-Leesville’s next chief, “Never lose touch with people, with the officers in your department or with the people in the community. You have to do what they expect, always be in touch with what’s going on.
“It’s been an honor to serve my community, and it is my community,” he said. “I hope most of the people feel like we’ve done well providing the service we’re supposed to provide.”
This story was originally published January 3, 2022 at 4:05 PM.
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