News Articles
Below, the State Constabulary, formed in 1893, was disbanded in 1932.
News_Article__State_published_as_The_State___February_2_1932__p12.pdfBelow, SLED was created in 1935 during the administration of Governor Olin D. Johnston.
News_Article__State_published_as_The_State___June_3_1935__p1.pdfSome confusion about when SLED became SLED may be due to evolving grammar rules. The article below from 1939 contains several examples of the names of proper places and organizations written without capitalization: bureau of identification of the state highway department, Richland county jail, state law enforcement division, and federal bureau of investigation. Capitalization rules as used today were not uniformly adopted until the 1960's or 1970's. For decades after its creation in 1935, SLED was known by interchangeable terms which often appeared in the same news article. These terms include variations on South Carolina law enforcement division, governor's officers, and constabulary.
News_Article__State_published_as_The_State___August_28_1939__p2.pdfThe original 21 SLED Agents listed below:
News_Article__State_published_as_The_State___June_5_1935__p3.pdfNews_Article__State_published_as_The_State___June_7_1935__p1.pdfNews_Article__State_published_as_The_State___September_15_1935__p1.pdfNews_Article__State_published_as_The_State___September_19_1935__p13.pdfNews_Article__State_published_as_The_State___July_29_1937__p2.pdfNews_Article__State_published_as_The_State___September_10_1937__p3.pdfNews_Article__State_published_as_The_State___November_17_1937__p8.pdfNews_Article__State_published_as_The_State___May_16_1942__p5.pdfNews_Article__State_published_as_The_State___July_1_1936__p2.pdfNews_Article__State_published_as_The_State___July_11_1936__p12.pdfBelow, SLED offices moved next door to the SC Highway Patrol ID Bureau in 1940. Chief Jeanes and ID Bureau Lt. Leo Jenkins worked many cases together. The organizations were eventually joined in 1947, when Jenkins' protege, Lt. Joel Townsend, was named Chief of SLED.
News_Article__State_published_as_The_State___May_4_1940__p7.pdfNews_Article__State_published_as_The_State___January_7_1940__p12.pdfNews_Article__State_published_as_The_State___April_23_1940__p7.pdfNews_Article__State_published_as_The_State___June_6_1940__p3.pdfNews_Article__State_published_as_The_State___June_6_1940__p3.pdfNews_Article__State_published_as_The_State___June_6_1940__p3.pdfNews_Article__State_published_as_The_State___August_21_1941__p9.pdfBelow, 1942, SLED cars to have license tags that read South Carolina Law Enforcement Division.
News_Article__State_published_as_The_State___May_16_1942__p5.pdfNews_Article__State_published_as_The_State___August_2_1942__p12.pdfNews_Article__State_published_as_The_State___June_27_1942__p1.pdfNews_Article__State_published_as_The_State___June_27_1942__p2.pdfNews_Article__State_published_as_The_State___January_28_1943__p15.pdfNews_Article__State_published_as_The_State___February_19_1943__p8.pdfNews_Article__State_published_as_The_State___February_2_1932__p12.pdfNews_Article__State_published_as_The_State___March_16_1943__p8.pdfNews_Article__State_published_as_The_State___June_11_1943__p17.pdfExcerpt from an article in the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, Novemeber 1957, Volume 26, Numer 11:
Statewide Agency in South Carolina Aids Enforcement
By Chief J. P. Strom, Director, South Carolina Law Enforcement Division
The State Law Enforcement Division was created by an act of the South Carolina General Assembly in 1935 for the purposes of enforcing the State liquor law and to “assist any law-enforcement officer in the detection of crime and the enforcement of any criminal laws of the State of South Carolina.”
News_Article__State_published_as_The_State___September_19_1935__p13.pdf
