Bruce Bryant eyes public office, retires next month after 20 years as York County’s top cop

If you need to catch Bruce Bryant in 2017, check fishing pond around the region. He’ll likely be wrestling in a trout or two.

Or maybe he’ll be hacking around a Rock Hill golf course, surrounded by a few friends.

If you don’t see him there, you might see him in the little woodwork shop at his York home, just a few steps away from his beloved wife, Blanche.

After 45 years in law enforcement -- the last 20 of them as York County Sheriff -- Bryant will officially retire next month as he makes way for son-in-law Kevin Tolson to lead the department.

Retirement won’t mean rest, Bryant says. If everything works the way he expects, it’ll be just the next chapter in a long and distinguished public life.

“(Blanche) and I talked about what we’re going to do,” said Bryant, during a quiet moment in his office. “But as time gets closer, I sort of get more jittery about it. I’m thinking ‘Am I going to wake up in the morning and not have anything to do?’”

Always a professional

David Hamilton first met Bryant while waiting in line.

At the time in 1996, the two were submitting filing fees and paperwork to run for office: Hamilton for York County Clerk of Court; and Bryant for Sheriff.

It was Bryant’s first run for office, but Hamilton said his long-time colleague already commanded plenty of respect due to successful stints at the York City Police Department, the State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) and the York County Sheriff’s Office.

“I’m sitting around at these stump speeches with my family and a few friends, but (Bryant) had this big gathering of people where he went,” Hamilton said. “He won over a lot of people very quickly.”

Bryant said he gained credibility among his deputies by enacting both a promotions and disciplinary board in the Sheriff’s Office in his first few months. Rather than acting as “lone man making the call,” Bryant said the boards were important to raising the bar for how deputies conducted business, and allowed issues to be resolved fairly with peer review.

“In so many Sheriff’s Offices, you’d have an officer who might have a problem, and he prayed that the Sheriff was in a good mood to address that,” Bryant said. “I saw too many times where I felt like the officers weren’t getting a fair shake.”

In his more than four decades of policing, Bryant has maintained a high level of professionalism, according to 16th Circuit Solicitor Kevin Brackett.

Brackett said Bryant was at the forefront of helping the department gain national accreditation, establish four new district offices, and grow the Crime Stoppers initiative into one of the more active programs in the state.

“He’s done just about everything,” Brackett said. “He’s done his best to bring all of the players together to work cohesively for the public interest. After 45 years of dealing with the worst of society, I think he has a lot of faith in people.”

Dealing with ‘tremendous changes’

Law enforcement has changed radically over the past two decades, Bryant says, and it all leads back to 9/11.

He said the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks fundamentally altered typical police tendencies across the country, including in York County.

Twenty years ago, when calls came in to respond to a “suspicious person,” Bryant said he typically figured they were dealing with (at worst) a robber or (at best) a peeping Tom.

These days, deputies have to be prepared for anyone “hellbent on committing a terrorist act.”

“That’s one of the greatest changes I’ve ever seen,” Bryant said.

Brackett said he was pleased to see how quickly Bryant adapted to change and new technology. York County’s top cop led the way in establishing multi-jurisdictional units for forensic services and drug enforcement.

He lobbied successfully to build a new DNA lab at the Sheriff’s Office, and implemented new GPS systems for deputies’ vehicles, according to Hamilton.

Bryant would embrace any initiative if it helped the Sheriff’s department become more efficient, Hamilton said.

“Looking back, he’s brought the Sheriff’s department well into the 21st century,” said Brackett. “It’s gone from an agency that was way behind in many respects, and brought it up to the quality of investigation that the county needed. The organization underwent a big transformation under that leadership.”

The next chapter

A life lived in law enforcement is “extremely stressful,” Brackett said.

But don’t expect Bryant to slow down.

He expects to travel with his wife to see a granddaughter in Montana this spring before heading to attend his grandson’s wedding in Sweden.

After that?

“If things happen the way that I believe things will happen,” he said, “I’ll be running for Ralph Norman’s seat (in the General Assembly.)”

Assuming U.S. Rep. Mick Mulvaney is approved by the U.S. Senate as President-elect Donald Trump’s budget chief, State Rep. Ralph Norman, R-Rock Hill said he will be running for Mulvaney’s open spot in Congress.

That would leave a spot open for Bryant to campaign for Norman’s seat in District 48 of the South Carolina House of Representatives. District 48 covers large portions of Rock Hill and Fort Mill.

Bryant wants to be a “voice for law enforcement in the General Assembly. He said he wants to overhaul the state’s “antiquated” court system, which he believes allows judges to make rulings without having to answer to any other authority.

If he does officially run, he’ll receive plenty of support from York County. Bryant was unopposed in each of his four re-election bids leading up to his retirement announcement this January.

Brackett said Bryant will be itching to get back into public service.

“Bruce is so high-energy,” said Brackett. “He’s always got somethinge else on his mind to accomplish. I don’t think he’ll be content sitting on the sidelines. He’ll want to put his hands on the oars and steer.”

Until then, Bryant said he is looking forward to relaxing at his home, “driving (his) wife crazy watching Western (movies), and taking time for himself.

“When I go home at night and rest my head on the pillow, I feel good,” said Bryant. “I’ve dealt with it real well.”

This story was originally published December 29, 2016 at 5:09 PM with the headline "Bruce Bryant eyes public office, retires next month after 20 years as York County’s top cop."