Mount Pleasant Town Councilman and former Police Chief Carl Ritchie has announced that he is running to be the next Sheriff of Charleston County.
“Our neighbors in Charleston County deserve service and protection from a professional, ethical and transparent sheriff, and that is the leadership I will provide,” said Ritchie. “Public service and safety have always been my calling and purpose – from my time as an MP in the Air Force to working narcotics; from SWAT team to investigations; from school safety to leading a department.”
Ritchie, who has 33 years of law enforcement experience in Charleston County and holds a master of criminal justice degree from the Command College of South Carolina at Anderson University, highlighted his proven success in keeping families and communities safe.
Ritchie said he will use proactive and community policing, ensure that violent criminals remain in jail, prioritize mental health care and professionally address mental health crises, aggressively tackle the Fentanyl issue and operate a secure and safe jail.
A national record-holding powerlifter, Ritchie serves as a Special Olympics powerlifting coach and as a board member for Father to Father, an organization that offers educational and support services for fathers trying to rebuild their lives and their families. A Riley Fellow, Ritchie previously served as a board member for the South Carolina Municipal Insurance and Risk Financing Fund and its Law Enforcement Advisory Committee.
