This Midlands city’s first police chief is leaving the job
Only one person has presided over the Cayce Police Department. Now that man is stepping away.
The city of about 14,000 across the Congaree River from Columbia announced Wednesday afternoon the departure of Police Chief Chris Cowan, hired in October 2021 ahead of the formal split of Cayce’s public safety department into separate police and fire departments in January 2022.
According to a news release, the appointment of an interim chief will be announced soon by the city manager.
Cowan is leaving Cayce to join the staff at the University of South Carolina’s Joseph F. Rice School of Law.
“I love our Cayce team and am proud of the new initiatives we have built. I am thankful for the people of Cayce we serve and have enjoyed being a part of this great community.” Cowan said in the release. “The position at the university is the right opportunity for me and for my family. But I look forward to working with city leaders, our department staff, and our community to see our upcoming events and initiatives come to fruition.”
In his nearly three years in the position, Cowan led Cayce police through an eventful time, establishing the department as a separate entity within the city government and helping establish new initiatives, including the “Si Se Puede” program to connect with the area’s Hispanic population and a program aimed at supporting and educating local senior citizens.
With his backing, the city passed a hate crime ordinance earlier this year, becoming the first municipality in Lexington County to do so.
Cowan also led the department through tragedy and grief after K9 officer Drew Barr was shot and killed in the line of duty in April 2022.
“We all knew Chief Cowan would only be with us in Cayce for a short time,” Cayce Mayor Elise Partin is quoted in the city’s release. “We are thankful for the impact he made while he was with us: Helping us transition from the Public Safety model to an individual Police Department, all while working with citizens to create safe driving initiatives, furthering dialogues, and connections we have built and creating successes and systems that have an average two minute, nine second response time for emergencies. We look forward to continuing to support the women and men of our Police Department as we build upon these successes.”
Cayce Mayor Pro Tem Tim James, who previously served as the head of the city’s public safety department, also praised the outgoing chief.
“Chief Cowan set various initiatives that were both personal and professional, with the goal of setting a benchmark for detecting, investigating, and preventing crime,” James said in the release. “This goal has been well achieved, and the decrease in crime rates prove it.”
