Watch: Sheriff’s Pledge to Combat Domestic Violence

Columbia , S.C. (WOLO) — In a press conference on Wednesday, dozens of South Carolina Sheriffs pledged to implement new policies to help tackle domestic violence.

“We pledge to change the numbers here in South Carolina, but most importantly we pledge to save lives,” said Orangeburg Sheriff Leroy Ravenell.

The pledge comes at the request of Governor Nikki Haley and the Domestic Violence Task Force, asking Sheriff’s to implement 2 major initiatives. The first, adopts an internal policy for domestic violence that includes a checklist of how officers should respond to domestic violence calls. The second asks Sheriffs to conduct a needs assessment for the resources and services they need to handle domestic violence cases.

“Sometimes the way they would report would not all be the same, so we couldn’t get the same data from every county because they were all doing it differently, this will allow us to work better with our counties,” said Governor Nikki Haley.

According to Governor Haley, 45 out of the 46 sheriffs made the pledge except for Sheriff Leon Lott. However, Sheriff Lott argued otherwise in a statement released Wednesday afternoon, “I signed the pledge, and our executive director of the Sheriff’s Association was advised of such. It’s a shame the Governor is interjecting politics into public safety when we lead the nation in domestic violence related deaths and assaults.”