Chester County’s newly-elected Sheriff Max Dorsey focused on crime, moving forward
Sheriff Max Dorsey keeps his post in Chester County, having defeated suspended former Sheriff Alex Underwood in the Nov. 3 election.
Dorsey was appointed to the position by SC Gov. Henry McMaster in 2019, and this will be his first time serving as an elected sheriff.
The last 18 months in Chester County have seen the city police-involved shooting of Ariane McCree (his family is still involved in a lawsuit against the Chester Police Department), the suspension of Underwood in May 2019 (he remains under investigation), and in September, the suspension of County Supervisor Shane Stuart. He was suspended by SC Gov. Henry McMaster after being indicted on charges of drug trafficking -- an investigation that started with the Chester County Sheriff’s Department.
The Herald’s Chester reporter Tobie Nell Perkins sat down recently with Dorsey to talk about moving forward.
Some responses have been edited for brevity.
A single investigation ousted Sheriff Alex Underwood and County Supervisor Shane Stuart. What’s next?
Dorsey: Well, obviously I can’t talk about ongoing investigations. The investigation of Alex Underwood is handled by the FBI and SLED. And so, we would have no role in that other than providing evidence and information.... The Shane Stuart and investigation originated here at the sheriff’s office with the narcotics investigators, and we involved SLED (the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division).
When we determined that it was credible information we were receiving, SLED got involved. It rolled into an ongoing state grand jury investigation. And that state grand jury investigation continues to move forward. However, I’m prohibited from discussing any of those details because of the statute.
But I guess, to give you a general answer to that question of what’s next: we have a lot of great investigations going on. I want people to know that you’ve got quality professional law enforcement going on here. We can’t reveal what that is, but I can tell you that we will continue to pursue crime and investigate it fully.
One of the things you’ve mentioned is your goal is to figure out where the drugs come from, and to cut drugs off at the source. Is that still one of your goals?
Dorsey: That will absolutely continue because of my background (as a SLED agent). I’m a proponent for stopping the drug trade at the wholesale and retail level. And so that’s what I’ve spent my career doing, and I can promise everyone in Chester County that our priority will be to stop the drug trafficking.
You know we have a drug addiction problem in Chester as well. And I don’t feel like those addicts belong in the criminal justice system. I feel like that is a medical community problem.
The problem with addiction, though, is that it metastasizes into other crimes. And so we have to deal with those whether they’re property crimes or crimes of violence. So we ultimately have to investigate and deal with those but we have some really good cases ongoing right now focused on drug traffickers. And not only are we going to investigate them fully and work them hard, but we’re going to take them to the prosecution that we can get the best results from.
Should the people be optimistic about the future of Chester County? And what would you like to say to them right now?
Dorsey: Citizens and people who live, work and play here should be extremely optimistic. There are a lot of changes that have happened here in the past two years. I’m just one of those changes. But there’s significant growth that’s coming here, we have a new economic development director, we have a new county supervisor. We have some new faces at the sheriff’s office. There are a lot of people here that have taken on the challenges of Chester head on. And we’re going to all partner together and focus efforts on just change in Chester the right way.
Diversity is a huge issue. Do you think the sheriff’s department staffing matches the diversity of community? (Note: Chester County is 36.8% Black.)
Dorsey: I don’t see diversity just through color, I see diversity through backgrounds. I see diversity through male, female, how you were raised. Your socioeconomic background. We have a diverse community of employees here. That is not indicative through the racial makeup. We’re wanting to recruit all kinds of people from all different backgrounds, but it’s just tough recruiting anybody to come to law enforcement.
First and foremost, we’re recruiting the best. And so we are seeking the best employees, whether they’re dispatchers or detention officers or sheriff’s deputies or administrative staff. We’re seeking out hiring the best. And so that’s our priority, and certainly a part of that equation is looking at employees from different backgrounds, because of course that that makes us better. And so, we will definitely continue to recruit people from those different backgrounds.
In the time you’ve been here, you’ve begun initiatives to engage with the community and get their perspective. Will that continue?
Dorsey: We can best engage in our community by being the best police officers we can be.
It’s certainly a priority of mine to kind of change the way we think of ourselves. And when I say “we,” I mean Chester, we’re not that bad place that everybody always thinks negatively about. There’s a lot of great people here, there are a lot of great things happening here. If it wasn’t, well, then no one would be moving here. And people are moving here. The Charlotte region is busting out at seams and so people are moving here. We’ve got different pockets of growth. And that’s going to significantly change in the next four years.
Our programs will ebb and flow as the needs of our community change, but an important initiative of mine is really to change the culture of the way we see one another.
I feel like some of the problems we have in Chester County are not necessarily the problem that law enforcement should own ourselves. I feel like the rest of our problems are based in poverty, drug addiction or substance abuse, mental health problems. I’m not going to say poor education, I’m going to say, the lack of making education a priority.
Things like that are causing our crime problem. If anybody in Chester wants to know how you can help reduce the crime problem, well then they can focus on any of those categories, and in building relationship with someone who’s struggling with some of those problems.
Talk about why you think it’s important to talk to everyday people and integrate yourself in the community?
Dorsey: I’m a firm believer that we can only accomplish our mission through relationships, and I work for everybody who lives, works, or plays here in Chester County. And so, I take that role as their servant very seriously and sincerely. I feel like in order for me to properly serve the citizens of Chester County, I need to hear from them.
...I need to go out and interact with them and learn about their lives, learn about them. That’s what’s been so wonderful about this job since I’ve been here, and especially in the past six months during the campaign season. I’ve talked to hundreds if not more than 1,000 people individually.
I’ve visited them at their homes, I’ve visited them at their businesses. So I’m not going to stop doing that because that’s an essential part of my role as the sheriff. I’m going to be engaged in the community. And I’m going to be responsive and the employees here in the sheriff’s office are going to be responsive to the needs of the community.
The Chester police department had an incident last October when they were involved in a fatal shooting by an officer. While acknowledging that was the city of Chester Police Department, not the Sheriff’s Department, is there any movement in your department toward further training on deescalating situations like that, or any new sensitivity training?
Dorsey: We have some recent deescalation training. It was sponsored by the High Conflict Institute. That was for all the detention officers and for sheriff’s deputies.
We’ve been in discussions with other entities about some deescalation training. Our efforts to prevent things like that lie in our ethical principles.
You’ve heard me preach these, and employees around here that hear me talk about them all the time. If you’re treating people honestly, and with integrity and respect, if you’re respecting everyone and you’re being accountable and those things, then you’re going to accomplish what you’re supposed to. You’re going to treat people the way they should be treated.
You know, law enforcement is under more scrutiny now than they’ve ever been in the history of our country. And I feel like some of that’s unfair. But that’s just what comes along with the territory. But we’re not going to shy away from doing our jobs. I would ask the community to judge law enforcement reasonably. And that’s how our legal system is set up, that’s how our courts have judged law enforcement officers actions for generations. What would a reasonable person do? What would a reasonable officer say knowing the information that they knew at the time? They made that decision and took that action. And so I would ask our community, not just in Chester but throughout America, hold us to a reasonable standard.
You were originally appointed by the governor. Is it validating to be elected this time around?
Dorsey: Yes it is. When I was appointed, only the governor made that decision..... And although I was still responsible to the citizens of Chester County and the governor, now is different. Those citizens have put their confidence in me continuing in this role.
There was a great deal of responsibility that I felt the day I was sworn in, serving as an interim sheriff. Well, I think that responsibility has been magnified. Now, I feel even more responsible to those who supported me and I feel responsible for those who did not support me because I’ve got to earn their trust. And I promise I’m going to work hard every day to do that.
Is there anything else you want people to know moving forward?
Dorsey: Well, we’ve come a long ways in the past 18 months. We have done a lot of great things. We’ve been fortunate enough to hire some great police officers, great detention officers, and great 911 operators. We have people here who have sacrificed to come to Chester. They’re not here to make a million dollars, they’re here to serve a community in which they love, and in a profession that they love, and so I’m most appreciative to the staff. They have accepted me. And they have helped me figure out this role as a sheriff.
And I’m appreciative of this community. The business community here in Chester has been very accepting of me. Part of my platform has been I’m a firm believer that if we can provide a safe environment, businesses will flourish. And people will want to come here, grow their businesses here in Chester County, and eventually come here and bring their families here.
So my pledge, is to do all we can to make Chester, a safer place so that people will want to come here and live and be a part of our community.
This story was originally published November 10, 2020 at 10:31 AM.
