HARTSVILLE, SC (WBTW) – The Hartsville Police Department has a new unit to handle drug and criminal investigations.
First Sergeant Michael Weatherford says the department created the VICE unit last year after noticing an increase of drug arrests in Hartsville. The increase led officers to uncover even more criminal activity in the city.
“We were able to gain a lot of information and through that we found ourselves working more criminal cases,” said Weatherford.
The unit is made up of five people:
- two narcotics investigators
- two criminal investigators
- one narcotics, gangs and ATF task force officer
Weatherford says caseloads for each person are now much lower. From 200 cases each a month to about 30.
“It’s a lot easier to remember those so each person can ask specific questions about their case or they can bring up a question that I might forget about. That gives us information to help solve it,” he said.
February 16th, the unit arrested 22- year- old Christian Edenburn. Authorities say Edenburn made generalized threats against schools and had a semi-automatic rifle. The unit was informed about the potentially dangerous situation from a concerned citizen.
“The suspect had plans to acquire body armor and large caliber weapons,” said Hartsville Police Chief Jerry Thompson in a press release. “Thanks to the investigation and hard work of our Hartsville Police Department VICE unit, and assistance from the Darlington County Sheriff’s Office, the suspect was detained and potential danger was averted.”
Edenburn is still in jail at the time of this posting awaiting a bond hearing.
“Just by reducing our caseload and putting everyone under one building, it’s lead to finding out more crimes,” said Edenburn.
Earlier this year, Hartsville City Council agreed to apply for a $28,500 grant to buy new equipment for the unit. The unit should find out if they will receive the justice assistance grant by September or October. Weatherford says some of those things may include a new camera and a case for DNA.
“Anytime you start talking about specialized equipment usually the price is outside of what a smaller agency can handle,” he said.
The unit says the community is proud of a significant reduction in gang activity and violent crimes citywide.
“When people in the community are taking notice and coming out and saying, ‘Hey, things are much better,’ or, ‘Things are better than they were,’ or, ‘We feel safer,’ that’s always a good thing to hear,” he concludes.
