Message from the Colonel
F.K. Lancaster, Jr.
“I am not satisfied with only using the tried and true methods because ‘that’s the way it’s
”
always been done.’
My first six months as Colonel of the South Carolina Highway Patrol have been an exciting journey. It has been a time of personal and professional growth. Since the changes in leadership, Director Keel and I felt that Troop visits must be a priority. Our goal has been to establish expectations and create clear lines of communication so we can all focus on the challenges ahead. The visits have been an eye-opening experience. I have been impressed by the level of participation and interaction as you asked good questions, made suggestions and shared ideas. I appreciate the supportive comments and your valuable feedback. Where do we go from here? Let me assure you, our plate is full. We have many plans to focus and re-focus enforcement and outreach efforts. I am not satisfied with only using the tried and true methods because “that’s the way it’s always been done.” That doesn’t mean we are making wholesale changes, but I do want to try new ideas in certain areas. I believe there are many untapped resources and approaches. Many of you have asked about the stimulus money and how that will affect future plans. At this moment, I simply do not have the money in hand nor have I been told exactly how it may be used. I will communicate to you, however, my goals that are not solely dependent on stimulus money but certainly will be helped by it: • Equip: To purchase and update equipment such as tasers; to fill gaps and enhance our vehicle fleet, possibly purchasing some high-performance vehicles; • Sustain: It is vitally important not to lose staff. We will continue to review our current staffing. I cannot say with complete certainty that more cutbacks will not come. At this time, however, I feel like we are on more solid footing with our staffing situation. • Hire: My goal is to have 40-60 quality officers in a January 2010 training class. I will not be satisfied until our strength numbers reach 1,000 again. This is a priority and critically important to ongoing fatality reduction efforts. We also have received many inquiries about the SCCATTS project. This is part of a comprehensive grant, which will allow us to move more toward electronic data collection and away from manual entries and paper files. The program is in a testing phase in Troop Four, and our goal is to test the system and remove obstacles before full-scale implementation. Additionally, we are working through the bidding and procurement process on the software and computers. I hope to begin statewide implementation later this year. More information on the implementation will be announced at a later date. On the enforcement front, we unveiled our DUI team to correspond with the July 4th holiday. I was pleased with the activity of the team, in conjunction with the Troops, during this holiday period. The team began work on July 4 weekend, making 51 arrests. The Highway Patrol made 342 DUI arrests statewide over the weekend, compared to 250 arrests last year. We currently are researching data regarding collisions, fatalities and arrests during football season. As we all know, impaired driving can be a serious issue on game day. I want to use the DUI team to augment existing enforcement resources on main arteries in areas surrounding the stadiums. We are working with Clemson, the University of South Carolina, and smaller schools to have either a video or audio safety announcement that will run during games this fall, urging fans to drive responsibly. I am looking forward to this partnership. On the community relations’ front, expect to the see our new Rollover Unit in your area soon. We have been awarded a grant by the Office of Highway Safety for a Rollover simulator, which demonstrates what happens to unbelted occupants during a collision. The initial focus, as mandated by the grant, will be in Lexington, Berkeley and Florence counties. However, it will be used for special events and programs in all parts of the state. (continued on page 9)
7 South Carolina Trooper