Midlands police chief created hostile workplace, employees say. He left after 3 months
As the city of Cayce searches for a new police chief after the leader it hired in September left less than three months into the job, frustration and lingering resentment have plagued the department, former and current employees said.
Eleven employees from the department resigned from their roles between September – when Cayce announced the hiring of its new police chief Herbert Blake – and the end of January, according to numbers provided by the city. In that same time frame, the department, which has a total of 73 positions, hired six employees. Amid the uncertainty surrounding leadership within the department, the turnover has caused confusion and additional work for employees who’ve stayed behind, employees told The State.
Blake, who had led police agencies in North Carolina for 20 years, was hired by the city to lead the police department in September after former chief Chris Cowan departed for a job with the University of South Carolina. In interviews and in documentation obtained through a public records request, current and former employees allege Blake created a hostile work environment within the department before he left the job in December.
“Everything changed” when Blake took over from interim chief Shawn Grant, a former employee, who agreed to talk to a reporter on the condition of anonymity, said. “It was a total night and day difference.”
Blake excluded at least two employees, one of whom was a female employee, from command staff meetings with no explanation, multiple sources within the department said. Previously, those employees had been included in the command staff meetings.
“With the arrival of Chief Blake, there have been changes to department practices and priorities. The changes may feel abrupt, but it is important to acknowledge that changes in leadership can bring new structures and it is necessary to adapt to be able to move forward,” the city told an employee who filed a formal complaint, in a letter response obtained through a public records request.
Six employees filed complaints with the city’s human resources division, employees within the department confirmed to The State. The complaints, obtained through a public records request, detailed instances of verbal abuse, discrimination and intimidation by Blake. The city responded to employee complaints, in letters obtained through a public records request, informing them that the issues had been addressed with Blake and that the city did not find his behavior to be discriminatory, unlawful or a violation of policy.
The complaints came from employees from various departments and ranks. Some who filed formal complaints had been with the city for just a few years, while others had been around for upwards of a decade. At least two employees who filed complaints resigned from their roles during Blake’s tenure.
Repeated phone calls to Blake from The State went unanswered.
“We are proud of the work of our outstanding City of Cayce police officers,” Cayce spokesperson Ashley Hunter said in an emailed statement. “While the past few years has been a time of transition for our department, we stand by our officer’s dedication to our citizens and our city.”
“While we typically do not comment on employment matters, it is important to note that each complaint was thoroughly investigated,” Hunter added in response to a request for comment about the complaints.
During his time leading the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Department in North Carolina, Blake didn’t receive any complaints from employees, according to information obtained through a public records request. A public records request for complaints from employees during his tenure in Hendersonville, N.C. was denied.
It’s unclear whether the complaints against him in Cayce had anything to do with Blake’s departure from the agency in December. In his brief, three-sentence resignation letter, Blake thanked the city for the opportunity.
“A copy of the resignation letter was provided to The State Newspaper. I cannot speculate the reasons for his resignation,” Hunter said via email.
As the city and its police force deal with the aftermath of his departure, and the exodus of employees that left during or immediately after his tenure, staff within the agency said there’s lingering frustration about the situation inside the Cayce Police Department.
Who’s in charge?
Following Blake’s resignation, the city brought in West Columbia Police Assistant Chief Bruce Wade to serve in an advisory role. In this role, Wade can offer assistance and advice on certain things within the police department, but doesn’t have much decision-making power. Jim Crosland, Cayce’s city manager, is signing off on police credentials and acting as the agency’s head, officers within the department told The State.
When asked directly who was in charge of the city’s police department, Hunter explained “under [Cayce’s] form of government, our City Manager, Jim Crosland, is in charge of our departments and all city matters.”
Crosland served as the assistant director of public safety in Cayce – which was split into separate police and fire agencies in 2022 – from 2016 to 2019. Despite leading the city’s police department, Crosland is no longer considered an active law enforcement officer, according to documents from the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy.
The set-up, of having an advisory chief and leaning on the city manager for more official tasks, is legal, according to the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy. Crosland is able to act as the agency head and to sign documents but cannot perform any police functions.
Having Wade serve in an advisory role is “not as common as bringing in an interim,” Jackie Swindler, the director of the Criminal Justice Academy, said. “In essence, it’s almost the same thing. You bring in somebody with some experience to come in and help oversee or manage the administrative process until you’re able to hire someone.”
In the day-to-day, two captains are leading the police department – Captain David Hoffman is leading the patrol division and Captain Brent Baker is in charge of the administrative side of things, employees within the department confirmed. Crosland tapped Hoffman and Baker to help lead the departments, reporting to him, in a Dec. 13 email sent to staff announcing Blake’s resignation obtained via a public records request.
Both cities – West Columbia and Cayce – have entered into a contract laying out the terms of Wade’s role, multiple sources confirmed. When asked to confirm that contract and about how much Wade was making in the advisory role, Hunter told a reporter for The State to file a public records request for the information.
Despite the department being in limbo as the city searches for a new chief to fill the head position, employees said the day-to-day has been less impacted by all the changes.
“With patrol, their work really hasn’t changed. You still have calls for service, still make traffic stops, still get DUIs, still work wrecks. That paperwork gets processed. [The changes are] more on the administrative end,” one employee said. Another noted that although the department is still feeling the impact of Blake’s leadership, things have improved since he resigned.
‘It’s obvious that they do not care’
Blake’s hiring, Crosland’s leadership and the city council’s growing involvement in the police department has created resentment and distrust among some of the department’s employees. Four employees, one of whom is no longer with the city, spoke to The State on the condition of anonymity, expressing frustration and a lack of trust between the city and its police officers.
“It’s obvious that they do not care about the people within the department. They care about their status,” one employee said.
The issues started last summer, when the city council approved its annual fiscal budget without cost-of-living salary increases for city employees, one employee with the department said. Many employees took issue with the way that Cayce’s council handled the tense budget process and the ways council members and city officials talked about staff during that meeting.
“If we lose employees because we couldn’t put our heads together with staff … we’ll never get those employees back,” Mayor Elise Partin, who voted against the budget changes that left staff out, said during a June 26 city council meeting last year. “If we don’t do the right thing tonight, that’s exactly what will happen.”
Aside from employee discontentment with the council’s decision to not include cost-of-living salary increases in its annual fiscal budget, many employees who spoke with The State were upset with the city’s hiring process, citing a lack of transparency in how Blake was chosen and resentment over the fact the department’s interim chief, Shawn Grant, was not tapped for the role.
“It goes back to city council and management ... they brought [Blake] in here and ignored employees,” one employee said.
A committee of community, law enforcement and elected leaders ranked the candidates for the position, Hunter, the city spokesperson, said. In a provided statement, the mayor emphasized that Blake was ranked No. 1 by each interviewer on the committee, and the city manager interviewed the top two candidates, ultimately selecting Blake.
Since September, at least 11 employees within the police department have resigned, according to numbers provided by the city. That number includes employees who worked as sergeants, investigators and victim advocates. It also includes Grant.
Grant, who’d been with the Cayce police department for three years, submitted a letter of resignation at the beginning of December. That letter of resignation, obtained through a public records request, claimed Blake used his position as chief to bully, demean and discredit certain employees.
The loss of staff, along with the departure of Blake, has added additional stress on employees left behind, one employee told The State.
“It’s taking longer to fill positions and the job responsibilities of the people that left have been divided amongst other people in the agency who already had more than enough work to do,” that employee said.
Cayce stopped accepting applications to replace Blake on Feb. 7. Hunter said the city hasn’t yet begun conducting interviews, and the process and “will continue until we find the right candidate.” She declined to say how many applications had been received by the city.
It’s unclear when the contract for West Columbia’s Assistant Chief Wade will expire. Multiple sources believed it was set to end after 60 days, but none were certain as to when that contract officially went into effect. The city announced Wade’s advisory role during a city council meeting Jan. 15.
This story was originally published February 19, 2025 at 9:45 AM.
