Two of South Carolina’s oldest deputies still serving in Dorchester County
SUMMERVILLE, S.C. Feb 14, 2022 Ernest Moultrie and Dale Nevins have been together for decades of dispatch calls, murder cases, and jokes at the Dorchester County Sherriff’s Office (DCSO).
“He was at my back anytime I needed him,” said Moultrie, who works as a DCSO court security officer now.
Moultrie, 89, and Nevins, 87, are the two oldest serving certified active LE1s in South Carolina.
“We knew what each other was going to do before we ever did it, just about I think,” said Nevins, who works in Internal Affairs at the DCSO.
Moultrie has made history of his own. He was one of the first African American deputies in Dorchester County when he was hired in 1969.
“The sheriff was looking for someone, a black person, to become a deputy,” said Moultrie. “I was very pleased with Sheriff Carl Knight and I told him I’d take the job. Sheriff Knight was a fair man whether you were white or black. I had the same authority as any white deputy had.”
The culture of acceptance within the DCSO was reflected in the friendship of Nevins and Moultrie.
“I never looked at it as any racial thing at all, never did,” said Nevins.
Out of all the stories the pair have together, Moultrie remembers one Christmas morning when he got a call about an officer who was wounded in the Dorchester County portion of North Charleston.
“They called me out. I called Dale. We were out that Christmas morning with the dogs. Running dogs trying to track this assailant down and we did,” said Moultrie. “There was never a dull moment with him.”
When both deputies were younger, the sheriff’s office had a significantly smaller staff. Moultrie and Nevins had to take on a large portion of the DCSO’s work.
“We worked quite a few murder cases back in those days. I would say that was probably most stressful on the both of us,” said Nevins. “The rest of the time we joked. I guess that’s why we got along so good.”
The two spent plenty of time together in the police car and the office which was a problem for Nevins when Moultrie wanted to have a smoke.
“He was smoking on those cigars in the car, in the office blowing them all over me all those years,” said Nevins.
“He complained every day about my few cigars,” said Moultrie.
The combined over 100 years of law enforcement experience is what the two elder statesman are using to teach the young deputies how to do their jobs well.
“There’s good people out in this world, take care of them, help them if you can,” said Moultrie. “You’ll be here a long time. Just be good and people will help you.”
“It’s good to see a young officer come along and pay attention to some of the things you tell them about,” said Nevins.
WCBD
