Retired York County K-9 deputy had been shot on duty. SC cops say he’s best in state
For 35 years, the York County Sheriff’s Office K-9 handler Randy Clinton was considered by South Carolina cops to be among the best.
Now it’s official.
Clinton, who retired in August, was awarded the 2019 Strom Thurmond Excellence in Law Enforcement Award for county police officers in the state.
“Randy is a hero to all of us,” said York County Sheriff Kevin Tolson. “It’s not just one instance that Randy is recognized for, it’s many thousands of hours of blood, sweat and tears poured into his 35 years duty and service.”
Clinton was the commander of the sheriff’s office K-9 division. In his career of running dogs and tracking missing people and suspects, Clinton had more than 2,500 locates. A locate is a K-9 team of dog and officer finding a victim or suspect.
Clinton received the award Friday, more than a year after he was shot on duty. Clinton was one of four officers shot in January 2018 in York when Christian McCall fired on police during a domestic violence call.
Sgt. Mike Doty later died. Sgt. Buddy Brown of the sheriff’s office and Sgt. Kyle Cummings of the York Police Department also were wounded.
McCall pleaded guilty later in 2018 and is serving a life prison sentence.
Clinton was out of work for a year after being shot in the leg. After surgeries, Clinton came back to the sheriff’s office in January 2019 and retired in August.
Many of the officers he served with over the years, including the day of the shooting, traveled to Lexington near Columbia to applaud as Clinton received the award.
This story was originally published November 18, 2019 at 10:55 AM.
