The Greenville County Sheriff has his own podcast now. Here’s how SC folks can listen & watch

One day last fall, Greenville County Sheriff Hobart Lewis called Lt. Ryan Flood into his office.

“I want to make a podcast,” the sheriff said.

Flood, who owns a wedding videography business as a side job, agreed and then went back to his office to learn how to make a podcast.

Not only that but he also learned how to design a studio. He turned half of his office into a studio that looks like something you’d see at a professional media company — mics, lights, table, backdrop and a custom-made sign for the name of the podcast — Roll Call.

Flood estimates they spent $6,000 or so from the Greenville County Sheriff’s Foundation, a nonprofit that raises money for items not funded by the government such as tactical gear for SWAT, drones, off-road vehicles, and K-9 units.

Roll Call’s mission is to be transparent about the work of the county agency, Flood said.

Lewis explained in the first episode that the department has long used various forms of social media and YouTube. They also videotape a critical incident briefing after officer-involved shootings that show what happened, often from the perspective of a dash or officer body camera.

A podcast was a natural extension, he said.

“It’s another platform to highlight what the agency is doing,” Flood said. “To reach different audiences.”

And Lewis is a natural, often appearing on camera after various incidents and during press conferences.

“He’s just an available guy,” Flood said.

Lewis was elected sheriff in 2000 and re-elected with almost 83% of the vote in 2004. He worked for Greer Police and the Sheriff’s Office before running for sheriff.

Carrie Weimer, a former Fox Carolina reporter who joined the Sheriff’s Office as a deputy in 2022, is the host of Roll Call.

Weimer previously did a program for the agency called “Behind the Tape,” a documentary-style show about a serial killer operating in the Carolinas operating in the Carolinas and a 21-year-old cold case.

So far, Roll Call has discussed the Sheriff’s effort to increase pay, ICE, homelessness, black history, scams, search and rescue and animal cruelty.

Lewis takes all questions and doesn’t hold back, especially on pay, which he says just a few years ago was among the highest in the state and is now No. 31. He has asked for a 12% increase for the department’s 770 employees, 600 of whom are deputies.

On ICE, Lewis said they are not going to schools to arrest children but do work with immigration officials when people are arrested for crimes.

He discussed the agency’s work to clear out homeless camps and to try to get help for those displaced.

Floyd was a patrol deputy for 9.5 years.

“People don’t hesitate to call you out,” he said.

But roll call?

“Nothing but positive,” he said.

One person said he and his family gather every Saturday morning to watch together.

An email address — sheriffhobart@gmail.com — has been set up for people to ask questions for future episodes.

Also planned is what people can and can’t do with drones.

This week’s episode is perhaps more personal than others.

It’s about an officer-involved shooting in January in which a suspect shot a deputy while he was sitting in a patrol car at the Greenville County Law Enforcement Center. Other deputies pursued. The suspect fired on them. Eventually they fired back.

Then the suspect killed himself. He had a 12-guage shotgun and 9 mm handgun in the car.

A critical incident briefing on the case was released Wednesday showing the pursuit and where it ended with a patrol car ramming it to hem it in.

Inside the patrol car was Lewis. He’ll talk about the incident in the Roll Call episode to be released Saturday morning.