No official announcement has been made regarding who will be filling late Charleston Police Chief Luther Reynolds’ shoes, but precedent for the city of Charleston suggests it will likely be an inside hire. And with three capable deputy chiefs, there’s a pretty short list of possible candidates.
Deputy Chief Chito Walker is a Greenviille native who joined the Charleston Police Department in 2000. He was promoted to deputy chief in 2020 and currently serves as the commander of the Procedural Justice and Community Policing Bureau, which deals with community relations and equitable policing. During his tenure, Walker served as a patrol officer, detective and SWAT marksman and team leader.
Walker holds professional affiliations with the FBI National Academy Association, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, the National Tactical Officer Association and more. He also holds a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from South Carolina State University, and a master’s degree in management from Webster University. He is also a graduate of the FBI National Academy, the Department of Homeland Security Leadership Academy and the South Carolina Command College.
Deputy Chief Jack Weiss graduated from the First Police Corps in Baltimore in August 1997 and joined the Charleston Police Department that December. He worked as a patrol officer for four years before transferring to Special Operations, becoming a member of the Explosive Devices Team. He later became the first supervisor of the Tactical Unit under Special Operations.
He was later transferred to Central Investigation Property Crimes as the burglary supervisor. In April 2012, Weiss transferred to the Central Investigations Division, where he served as the commander of the Crimes Against Persons Unit. In September 2016, Weiss was promoted to captain and became the division commander of Central Investigations. In May 2019, he was transferred to the Uniform Patrol Division, where he served as division commander. He was named deputy chief in April 2021 and now serves as the Investigations Bureau commander. He graduated from Charleston Southern University with a bachelor’s degree in history. He is also a graduate of the FBI National Academy.
Deputy Chief Dustin Thompson joined the Charleston Police Department in 2002 after graduating from the S.C. Criminal Justice Academy. In 2005, he joined the department’s Harbor Patrol Unit, assisting the Department of Homeland Security in patrolling the Port of Charleston and participating in several water and land rescues.
Thompson later served in the department’s Traffic Division as a member of the Major Accident Investigative Team. He was quickly promoted to sergeant and later lieutenant, serving as the midnight shift command officer and the commander of the Crimes Against Persons Unit in the Central Investigations Division in 2019. He was promoted to deputy chief in April 2021. Thompson graduated with honors from the University of South Carolina in 2001 with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice. He is also a graduate of the Police Executive Research Forum’s Senior Management Institute for Police and a 2022 member of the Jewish Institute for National Security of America Homeland Security Program.
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