“New” Police Chief in Town

May 15, 2007: Today the Honor Guard for the Charleston Police Department presented the colors in honor of their fallen comrades as it was Police Officers Memorial Day.

Rob Dewey was not able to be present because he was in Lincolnville with 300 other officers responding to a crisis of an officer who disappeared, so Henry Fishburne introduced our speaker, Chief Mullen. Chief Mullen is a native of North Carolina, began his career in law enforcement in the Air Force, spent 21 years with the Virginia Beach Police Department, and on October 1, 2006 was selected to be the Chief of the Charleston Police Department.

Chief Mullen addressed the three key questions on everyone’s mind. These questions were 1) What we doing? 2) What do we need to do to get to the next level? and 3) Most importantly, what are the challenges or barriers we face in the community? Chief Mullen explained that Charleston, like everywhere else, is facing an epidemic of violent crime. While nationally violent crime rose 3.6% last year, it rose in areas that you would typically not expect. For example Orlando has had the greatest increase in murders in the past year, even though it’s known for its family-friendly resorts.

To address the needs of our community, Chief Mullen said we must see the problem in a broader perspective. One of the unique perspectives is that the average age of people committing violent crimes has moved from the 18 to 25 years bracket to the 15 to 25 years bracket. The Chief explained that violent crime tends to be committed by the same target group who are going in and out of our justice system even though they are starting much younger.

The key to reducing crime is getting everyone engaged in the community and working with other agencies throughout the area. Because criminals do not respect municipal boundaries, he has initiated a program of investigators of the Area Police Departments meeting weekly to share information. These meetings lead to not only solving crimes, but spotting trends earlier to prevent crimes. By stressing inter-operability of agencies and focusing on the localized areas where violent crimes occur, the investigators are helping to make our communities safer.

Chief Mullen closed with a request of the Club to assist him in two key areas to help prevent or reduce crimes. First, he asked everyone to lock their cars and not keep valuables in plain view, as this is an open invitation to vehicular crime, which funds drugs and guns. Second, he asked us to communicate with our legislators to support stricter legislation, especially for bonds and searches. He shared a story about an individual who was arrested for a homicide committed while being out on bail on a weapons charge. If our laws had allowed him to remain incarcerated until trial, this crime could’ve been prevented.

Submitted by Wayne Outlaw, Keyway Committee