Search for permanent successor to begin within next 60 days
Through tears and protracted pauses, Randy Scott said Monday he’s leaving his post as Columbia’s police chief.
Scott’s tenure at the police department, capped by a weeks-long, unexplained leave, will end May 1, according to City Manager Teresa Wilson. Ruben Santiago, who has taken over as acting chief, will stay on as interim chief.
Wilson said the city would begin looking for a permanent successor within the next 60 days, and Monday afternoon, Santiago expressed interest in the job.
Scott had been wrangling with personal issues leading up to his April 1 request for indefinite leave, Wilson said. Over the past few weeks, Scott said he had received counseling and was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Wilson said he hadn’t received any other diagnoses.
“I am a law enforcement officer, but I forgot that I also have a family. I can tell you that over a month ago, I began to realize that things were eating at me,” Scott said at a news conference before he paused nearly 20 seconds, looked down and began to tremble.
During his two-and-a-half years as police chief, Scott was divorced, documents released by the city indicate.
A veteran of six years in the Marine Corps and 15 in the Richland County Sheriff’s Office, Scott said his PTSD stemmed from the death eight years ago of a man he’d hired for the county.
Scott had been with Byron “Keith” Cannon at a police officer’s memorial service in May 2005. Two hours later, Cannon was killed in a car wreck while he was on duty. In the years since, Scott has kept up with his mother, who he now calls “Mama.”
“Only after going through counseling, I realized that’s what it was,” Scott said as he began to cry. “Because you should not hire someone and then look down at the car and see that person deceased.”
Wilson said the PTSD diagnosis aligned with the problems Scott had described to her but that she’d only learned about the condition Monday morning.
The decision to resign his post was Scott’s, she said. He said he plans to return to law enforcement eventually, but Mayor Steve Benjamin said he doubts Scott will ever return as police chief.
Scott’s tenure was marked by a reduction of crime citywide, Benjamin said. The first quarter of this year saw a 30-percent drop in violent crime and a 17-percent drop in incidents overall.
But he was a common target of criticism among USC students and Five Points patrons, who said police patrols in the bar district were too focused on underage drinking rather than violent crime, which has marked the area in recent years.
The department was also dealt an embarrassing blow when officers searched for Tom Sponseller, a prominent lobbyist who went missing last year. It took them 10 days to find his body in his downtown office building’s garage. They also initially missed a suicide note and gun box in his office.
Scott fired two high-ranking officers in the wake of the search, including Isa Greene, who filed suit against Scott and the police department in February. Her suit claims she was discriminated against based on race and gender, allegations Scott and the city denied in a later court filing.
Scott and others were also sued twice more in January and March by husband-and-wife officers who Scott disciplined.
Shortly after Scott’s leave began, Wilson said she had gotten complaints about his conduct and that disciplinary action was possible, pending investigation.
Those inquiries are complete, she said Monday.
But the city won’t release documents outlining just what those complaints were.
Shortly after his leave began, The Daily Gamecock requested copies of complaints filed against Scott and any emails sent or received by Wilson or Benjamin regarding Scott or his conduct.
Those requests were not filled when the city released documents Friday, saying in a letter that they weren’t public records under the Freedom of Information Act’s personal privacy exemption because the allegations they contain aren’t verified.
But according to Jay Bender, a First Amendment lawyer who represents the South Carolina Press Association, of which The Daily Gamecock is a member, the privacy exemption doesn’t cover records about a public employee’s performance.
“I think the public has a right to know if there are complaints against the police chief,” said Bill Rogers, the press association’s executive director.