Anderson County Absorbs Belton P.D.

(Belton, S.C.) – As of July 1^st, the City of Belton Police Department has transitioned law enforcement services to the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office (ACSO).

Though this contract with ACSO (or any other Sheriff’s Office) isn’t particularly unique nation-wide, it is a bit unique by South Carolina standards.  These types of contracts are common across parts of California and Southern Florida as many smaller municipalities sought to increase their resources by contracting with the local Sheriff’s Office.

Due to numerous financial and staffing issues, the Mayor of Belton approached the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office about contracting their law enforcement services a handful of months ago.  After an agreement was reached, various permissions were granted and votes of City Council proved to be in support.  In total, a 5-year contract was agreed upon with full 24/7 coverage.  As part of the terms, the City of Belton now has 2 Anderson County Sheriff’s Deputies assigned to the city per shift.  Additionally, Belton has access to the full array of Anderson County Sheriff’s Office resources at their finger tips, including various technological resources and access to all of ACSO’s special units.

The small handful of officers who worked for the City of Belton Police Department were given an opportunity to apply at the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office.  Because of this, many of the same folks who routinely patrolled the City of Belton when it had a police department have transitioned over to the Sheriff’s Office.  This will help provide familiar faces to the residence of Belton during the time of transition.  It will also help to keep their community policing ties strong.  As a whole, this seems to be a largely positive transition for the City of Belton as they are gaining more law enforcement coverage and resources while not costing the city any additional money.  Instead, the police department budget is now being paid to Anderson County.

Fleet wise, expect to eventually see a mix of vehicles on the streets of Belton.  Some of the former Belton Police Department fleet will be retained in the transition. Those vehicles are expected to be re-stripped and lettered representing the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office and City of Belton contract.  Stay tuned to see updated photos of the vehicles after the transition is complete.

For additional photos of the Belton Police Department prior to the transition, please visit the Anderson County section of the database. As always, we thank the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office and Belton Police Department for providing us access to their fleet prior to this transition.