Turning pain into purpose: Aiken Public Safety programs, support groups grew out of tragedy

Dec. 19—The way Aiken coped over the past decade after losing two officers in the line of duty said a lot about the community and its will to move forward and improve.

Following the deaths of two Aiken Department of Public Safety officers — Master Public Safety Officer Scotty Richardson and Master Cpl. Sandy Rogers — 10 years ago, police put new programs in place to ensure similar tragedies did not reoccur.

Local residents also formed nonprofit organizations to help aid law enforcement, after recognizing the need.

After Richardson and Rogers were killed in the line of duty, Aiken Public Safety started multiple initiatives, including Safe Communities and Citizen's Academy.

A decade after their conception, Aiken Public Safety said the programs are still running and continue to show results.

Aiken Safe Communities Initiative

The Aiken Safe Communities Initiative is a proactive community program targeting recurring offenders. It aims to reduce high levels of crime and recidivism in the Aiken community and provide support for the City of Aiken's Northside Revitalization.

"While we had seen a slight decrease of serious crime between 2008 and 2012, the number of murders in Aiken spiked from one to seven during this time," according to the City of Aiken. "This surge of murders in a City of less than 30,000 warranted an immediate solution with measurable results."

The program uses data metrics to identify local offenders that pose the greatest safety threat to the community.

Once identified, offenders are told they will face stiffer penalties and an expedited trial if they reoffend.

"Those most violent in our community are brought in and told that, 'You've already proven time and time again, that you're causing havoc in our community,'" said Aiken Public Safety Chief Charles Barranco. "We can't pull all of our resources on every case, but we tell them, 'If you reoffend violently, you can bet to see us all there. We will gather those resources to be able to take you off the street, because our community has demanded that.'"

However, offenders also are provided with opportunities to help them turn their lives around. Many receive assistance with getting their GED, clothing and counseling.

Lt. Billy Cameron said the Aiken Department of Public Safety sent out the first notification in January 2013; and, since then, 143 individuals have been notified. He said statistics show the program is working.

"The national recidivism rate for violent offenders in the United States is about 78%," Barranco said. "Those we have notified only reoffend about 15% of the time."

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Public Safety hasn't had any formal call-ins since October 2019, but the 143 notified offenders are still being met with the same promise they were given at the call-in, Cameron said.

"It's still being monitored; we just haven't added any more offenders to it because of COVID," Cameron said. "If things with COVID taper off come the spring, then we might have a spring one."

Cameron said the program is not going away any time soon.

"It's something that's gonna stick around for quite some time," he said. "This is a promise that law enforcement has made to these guys — it's not going anywhere."

Citizen's Academy

Another program Aiken Public Safety introduced was the Citizen's Academy.

The nine-week program gives local residents a look into Public Safety and what day-to-day operations look like in Aiken.

Officers teach about basic patrol functions, use of force, community policing, traffic safety and criminal investigations in an attempt to provide transparency.

"Many of the participants were moved by what we do here," Hayes said. "One participant would bring us cookies once a month after she took the course."

Hayes estimated about 70 members of the public have taken the class, as class sizes are kept under a dozen participants. The pandemic also slowed down the frequency of classes.

"It's something we do every year with the intent to keep building on it and to have more people come through," Lt. Jennifer Hayes said.

In June 2019, Aiken Public Safety extended the program, creating a Junior Citizen's Academy.

Hayes said the Junior Citizen's Academy allows Public Safety to reach out to the younger generation and explain more about what they do, developing positive relationships.

"There's a lot of negative mindsets about police and what they do," Hayes said. "If you can have one kid learn that that's not true, then they can affect multiple other kids."

Support 1

Support 1, a nonprofit organization that focuses on supporting emergency first responders involved in critical incidents, was started by founder Christopher Chavous, his wife, Melanie Chavous, and Michael Ford in 2011.

Support 1 offers free training classes to first responders that are conducted through the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation. Support 1 pulls from its database of people they've trained to provide first responders with assistance during or following emergency situations.

Chavous, who is currently a staff sergeant with the Aiken County Sheriff's Office and volunteer firefighter, came up with the idea with Ford in September 2010.

They received their nonprofit status in December 2011, right before Richardson was killed in the line of duty.

Chavous was working road patrol for the Aiken County Sheriff's Office that night and managed the crime scene until SLED took over. He said he knows firsthand the toll that call took on first responders.

"When Scotty was killed, there was a large quantity of firemen that were involved because it was the Department of Public Safety," Chavous said. "We already had a contingent in place and walked right beside the law enforcement assistance program while they went through the process of taking care of their officers."

The nonprofit launched on Jan. 1, 2012, and three weeks later, Rogers, was killed in the line of duty.

Support 1 provided services to law enforcement involved in Rogers' shooting as well.

Chavous said one of the things that makes Support 1 unique is that they work with a large array of people involved in these types of incidents.

"We'll train anyone from first responders, to civilians that work inside these first responder entities," he said. "The records clerk, the evidence technician, the dispatcher, the officer, the EMT, the fireman, the correction officer or the admin secretary — everybody is affected inside an agency when it comes down to a tragedy."

He said these situations don't just affect officers wearing badges.

"It affects the ones that are pushing your payroll through, it affects a lot of people," Chavous said.

Support 1 trainees can then use their expertise to help people with the same background or occupation during a traumatic experience.

"If we're dealing with a bunch of firemen, then our [responding] team will be a bunch of firemen," he said. "If our team is a mix of cops and firemen, then we'll have a mixed team."

Support 1 has trained over 300 first responders across seven states; however, Chavous said the majority of them are from the CSRA.

"If someone wanted to take advantage of our services, all they would have to do is come to one of our training classes — and it is 100% free," he said. "We take care of everything."

Support 1 has raised almost $750,000 since it started. The nonprofit raises funds for classes through two main fundraisers — a gun raffle and a golf tournament.

Chavous said the cost of each training class ranges from $2,000 to $4,000.

The nonprofit's first raffle drawing of the 2022 will be hosted on Jan. 5. Raffle tickets can be purchased on Support 1's website.

Beside the Badge

Beside the Badge is another charitable organization dedicated to the support of local law enforcement and the fire service, founded by wives of Aiken Public Safety officers after the deaths of Richardson and Rogers.

"We formed in 2012, after the deaths of Scotty and Sandy in the line of duty," said Beside the Badge President Brenda Mills.

A group of Aiken Public Safety spouses, who knew Richardson and Rogers, came together to develop the first charter, and the nonprofit was officially designated as a nonprofit organization in 2014.

Beside the Badge's first endeavor was raising funds through the sale of T-shirts and general fundraisers, to send the families, honor guard and shifts involved in the two Aiken officer deaths to Washington, D.C., during Police Week when their names were placed on the memorial wall.

Richardson's widow, Amelyn Richardson, serves as treasurer of the organization.

"Beside the Badge has done so much for us," Amelyn said. "I think it's kept the department together."

Mills said the nonprofit hosts a number of events to bring families of law enforcement together.

"We do trivia nights, barn dances and a dinner during Police Week," Mills said. "Our mission is to support Public Safety, the community and the families, as well as overall law enforcement."

Amelyn said she wants to help support the families of law enforcement, and the community as a whole, since she was shown so much love from the Aiken community after her husband died.

"When it happened, I had so much support from all of these people that I didn't even know," she said. "I felt like I had to give something back. It was just such a horrible thing that happened — you want to make something good out of this horrible situation."

Beside the Badge has a 10-year anniversary memorial motorcycle ride planned in April 2022, in honor of Richardson and Rogers. The nonprofit hosts the motorcycle ride annually.

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