Columbia’s getting a new permanent police chief, and whoever is chosen, he’ll bring a fresh perspective to issues in the department and the city. The current interim police chief, Ruben Santiago, is not a finalist for the job, and only one candidate is even from South Carolina.
After going through six police chiefs in seven years, the department will be hiring someone from well outside the department. They could be displeased with what their department has recently produced, or maybe they’re just interested in change for the sake of change. Either way, the chairman of the police chief search committee has said he’s impressed with the group of finalists.
Unfortunately, not everyone else is on board with excluding Santiago. Some loyalists think Santiago deserves a chance as a finalist.
We aren’t necessarily in favor of leaving Santiago out of the picture, either. He is responsible for refocusing the police’s focus away from underage drinking and onto violent crime, after all. That said, his tenure has faced its share of issues, from a tragic, high-profile shooting in Five Points to an investigation by the state police.
Santiago deserves a look for the position, and we trust that the search committee gave him a fair shot at taking over permanently. We can also appreciate the search committee’s preference to hire an outsider.
Tradition does provide a sense of security, but looking for solutions to Columbia’s crime struggles from the outside does show a promising yearning for progress.
Who the city chooses as chief could mean a great deal to students, especially in light of crime issues just off campus and in Five Points over the past few years. Five Points is obviously a hot topic for the city and the USC community, but it’s a difficult situation that we don’t expect to be completely remedied anytime soon.
Maybe a fresh perspective is just what we need to get the streets cleaned up once and for all.
