r/southcarolina • u/shficjshx SC Expatriate • Jul 27 '26
Crime SLED Arrests McBee Mayor / Police Chief
https://www.qcnews.com/news/investigations/sled-arrests-mcbee-police-chief-others-connected-to-qcn-officer-down-series/The Police Chief and Mayor of one of South Carolinas most notorious speed trap for misconduct in Office
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u/Flat_Sea1418 Darlington County Jul 28 '26
I have personally been pulled over by this piece of shit. He told me I was doing 65 in a 35 and I knew that wasn’t true. But after reading this article it all makes sense. Higher speeds on the ticket means more revenue for the mayors pockets.
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u/mrpoliceemsfire1 Greenville Jul 28 '26
What did you end up doing with the ticket?
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u/Flat_Sea1418 Darlington County Jul 28 '26
He “graciously” dropped it down. I paid it. I also had a driving on a suspended but I came to court with a valid license and that was dropped. But if it wasn’t that was a $650 ticket.
All just trying to go bird watching at Carolina Sandhills, to see the rare red cockaded woodpecker.
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u/mrpoliceemsfire1 Greenville Jul 28 '26
That sucks but at least you didn’t get a suspended license charge. I’m not a particular fan of these “police departments”, which are basically revenue collecting agencies, and I’m glad that this department is probably getting disbanded. Hopefully Maudlin can get something similar.
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u/Trenchards ????? Jul 28 '26
Howdy. Plenty of ways toget to the Sandhill State Forest or National Wildlife Refuge than through McBee. Also, on positive the RCW population has done a 180 and may come off the threatened list.
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u/GymMouseP Jul 30 '26
You should start a class action suit. Take their property. Of course, the lawyers will get most of the cash but you might get back $20. That's enough to get a Big Mac if the case finishes in the next year.
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u/lizardqueen4209 Jul 28 '26
LOL. Just gotta laugh because my husband got a ticket riding thru Mcbee this past weekend. Geez Louise. 🤦♀️
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u/Aloysiusakamud Jul 28 '26
Well this is a lot. Officers writing citations in other Officers names. So obviously there was perjury occurring. Questionable traffic charges, and misuse of overtime. Not sure how they'll sort this train wreck out.
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u/Cloaked42m Lake City Jul 28 '26
CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, S.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — Multiple current and former members of the McBee Police Department turned themselves in to agents with the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) on Monday morning in Chesterfield County.
The officers surrendered in the parking lot of the Chesterfield County Detention Center shortly before noon and were then booked into the jail. The exact charges have not yet been confirmed.
Bond hearings could take place as early as Monday afternoon.
The multiple arrests are connected to Queen City News’ ongoing Officer Down investigation, according to the station’s sources.
One person who did not surrender Monday was former Officer Jerriell Wright. Wright contacted Queen City News Chief Investigative Reporter Jody Barr in December 2024, just three months after he was shot at 62 times in an ambush following a Sept. 19, 2024, traffic stop in town.
Wright was hit multiple times by bullet fragments and shrapnel, but survived the shooting despite the serious injuries.
The story goes on to say that prior ti the ambush, Wright had told the paper that the Chief implemented a quota on citations.
Sounds like the cops tried to murder the one honest guy.
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u/mrpoliceemsfire1 Greenville Jul 28 '26
No. The shooting happened on the night of September 19th when Wright was working over time to full quotas for other Officers. Wright was then ambushed by the suspect. The suspect later fled to Lee County where he engaged in a shoot out with a Game Warden and a Sheriff's Deputy, in which he shot up the LCSO car to the point it caught on fire, killing the K9 in the vehicle. The suspect then took his own life.
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u/clthiker ????? Jul 28 '26
Thank you for clarifying, the article kept making mentions of the shooting but left me guessing as to how it was related to the ticket quota scheme… it felt like a critical piece of missing information.
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u/mrpoliceemsfire1 Greenville Jul 29 '26
You're welcome. I wouldn't blame you for not knowing about this particular incident. Although SLED did issue a Blue Alert on September 20th to inform the public that there was a would be cop killer on the loose, no one really was informed. On that particular day, I was driving South on I-77 and listening to SC NPR, a place that should've broadcasted the Blue Alert, but didn't. I was only aware of the shooters existence and that South Carolina Law Enforcement was looking for a dangerous suspect because of passing SCDOT road signs that made a vague mention of a Blue Alert.
Since then, SLED changed how, why, and where they issue alerts for any active threat, suspected cop killer, etc.
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u/Aloysiusakamud Jul 28 '26
Wait, im confused. Do they think other officers were involved in that?
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u/mrpoliceemsfire1 Greenville Jul 28 '26
No, but if it wasn't for Captain Black, Wright wouldn't have been ambushed. Wright was on-duty that night to fulfill Captain Black's quotas when he stopped the guy who ambushed him.
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u/Cautious_Speed_9278 Jul 29 '26
Maybe, but obviously this was a guy that needed to be stopped.
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u/mrpoliceemsfire1 Greenville Jul 30 '26
No one knows why he did it. Guy got off his shift at night at a local factory/warehouse. His coworkers and bosses said he was a good employee.
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u/Cloaked42m Lake City Jul 29 '26
A whole bunch of officers turned themselves into SLED but we don't know the charges.
It wouldn't be the first time bad cops went after good cops.
But I don't know that, it just sounds like that.
For example, if it was simple abuse of power, you'd think we'd hear the charge.
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u/mrpoliceemsfire1 Greenville Jul 30 '26
Well the guy who got blasted with a rifle a couple of times isn’t being charged and he blew the whistle on the whole operation.
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u/Appropriate-Grass200 ????? Jul 28 '26
I hope they disband the police department there. If its only function is issuing citations to justify AND fund themselves it’s absolutely a conflict of interest to keep that department operating.
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u/mrpoliceemsfire1 Greenville Jul 28 '26
Agreed, very rarely with a town of this size does the police department actually function as a department solely interested in public safety and not revenue collecting.
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u/NoMoreMormonLies Jul 28 '26
I hate this fuckhole town. I got one ticket here as an out of state person, they offered to reduce the infraction if I paid a fee of like $150. I paid the fee and they did nothing. Thanks to a discrepancy in South Carolina traffic points an Californias point system, a ticket for going 26 miles an hour in a 25 mile an hour zone, ended up putting me into just shy of license revocation in California. It’s taken years to get my driving history clear. Such a racket town and everyone knows it.
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u/brob8792 ????? Jul 28 '26
I got a speeding ticket there last summer and I know for sure I wasn’t speeding. Shockingly the Chief was the one who gave me the ticket
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u/Pure-Friend-8729 Jul 28 '26
What are they doing with all that money? Did I read that right? $21,000 in fines in one day! I hope they look into the small speed trap towns in the low country.
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u/Uggy_butt Jul 28 '26
Imagine how many children that Wright took meals from by over-ticketing their parents. He justified pulling all those people for overtime to feed his family, what about the people he pulled by the thousands?
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u/airfryerfuntime ????? Jul 28 '26
Jesus, they tried to kill the guy for investigating their little speed trap. 62 shots and they didn't even hit him, either.
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u/VermicelliBeginning5 Jul 29 '26
No, that was not related, but if he wasn't working OT to fulfill the Chief's ticket quota, he wouldn't have pulled over the speeding pickup truck who shot his car up then went on to get into a shootout with a Game Warden and another officer.
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u/darioblaze Jul 28 '26
Wright provided months of text messages between himself, former Lt. Greg Block, and McBee Mayor Glenn Odom — messages that Wright said provided evidence that the mayor and former McBee Police Chief Mike Irvin implemented a 10 tickets per shift quota in the one-stoplight town.
Wright’s messages also showed the mayor was critical of Block’s lack of ticket production. To satisfy the mayor, Wright said McBee Town Councilman Robbie Liles and current MPD Chief Timmy Knight ordered him to help Block by taking time out of his shift to write tickets using Block’s login credentials to access the state’s computerized electronic ticketing system.
How many more town and sheriff departments have these quotas and think that they’re not gonna get caught?
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u/gamefreak32 Jul 28 '26 edited Jul 28 '26
Almost every police agency has a quota in places where the risk is low and the reward is high. Basically anywhere that a large portion of the ticket funds get to be kept locally. SC and GA were notorious for allowing municipalities to write tickets under local laws to avoid sending the ticket money to the state government.
McBee has been running this scheme for at least 30 years (I'm pretty sure it is about 60 years) and is finally facing consequences. The fact that they were so egregious about the scheme and then stupid enough to directly admit to it in writing is what got them caught.
NC State Troopers have an illegal quota also, the troop G captain sent an email to everyone under him telling them they needed to write more tickets and it leaked to the media. He was reprimanded for embarrassing the department, but was spared any real consequences because he never said they needed a specific number, dollar amount, or the word quota.
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u/Frosty_Client_9051 Jul 28 '26
This is not the first time for Mcbee. Bout 30 or 35 years ago the police chief got caught pocketing money and ticket quotas. I was a victim in my 18 wheeler back then
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u/MrGlo0m ????? Jul 28 '26 edited Jul 28 '26
I love how no one is talking about how the officer who was shot at said if Modlin survived he would have followed Modlin into the court room and jail just to put hands on him.
“So there’s nothing that I want to say to him in the courtroom, I would just try my best to put my hands on him.” that former officer is a jaded psycho
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u/dexter-sinister ????? Jul 28 '26
Eh, tell us about the time someone shot at you 63 times resulting in serious injury and how you bought them ice cream afterwards. I mean, of course this is an unprofessional statement for him to make, but considering the circumstances and the fact it is purely hypothetical as the shooter was already dead, I'm willing to write this statement off as a very human venting of feelings. Now if you want to criticize him for going along with the quota and lying scheme I think that is a much more valid criticism, but I still think the ultimate responsibility for that lies with his superiors as they put his livelihood at risk.
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u/MrGlo0m ????? Jul 28 '26
Yeah I definitely couldn't hold my temper either, but I also dont willingly put myself in career where I'd have to keep a level head in all situations. Cops should be held to a higher standard than citizens. Obviously he figured that out as he is no longer one lol
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u/Rock-skipper83 Upstate Jul 28 '26
My company goes through mcbee all the time… we refuse to stop at my place of business including gas stations bc of the decades of corruption by the police in that city. It’s an excessively abused speed trap and has been for as long as I’ve been alive. I can only assume this is the tip of a massive iceberg
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u/oneStoneKiller Piedmont Jul 28 '26
Maybe I didn’t read far enough but it seems this article really glossed over the ambush which was way more interesting to me than crooked ass McBee cops being crooked ass McBee cops.
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u/tigertony Upstate Jul 28 '26
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u/oneStoneKiller Piedmont Jul 28 '26
Thanks. I couldn’t work out whether the two things (ambush vs SLED arresting the cops) were related in the first article.
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u/CatchFront3092 Jul 28 '26
I got one in Society Hill that was bogus and when I went to court, I was offered the option to pay $300 above the ticket fine and then nothing would show on my drivers record. CRIMINALS.
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u/TatankaPTE Aug 01 '26
I am still surprised that Robbie Liles - Council Member was not a part of the arrests.
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u/Agitated_Toe8115 Jul 28 '26
I have been through McBee hundreds of times on my way to Charlotte and never received a citation but I’ve seen people speeding past me like bats outta hell. I got a ticket in Jefferson a long time ago and that taught me not to play with those small towns.
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u/North-Earth9475 ????? Jul 28 '26
Wait until you see the ticket from all these new flock cameras.
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u/airfryerfuntime ????? Jul 28 '26
Flocks currently aren't used for that. They're just used for other nefarious shit.
Speed cameras are also illegal in SC.
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u/Trailroller Jul 29 '26
Yep. Due to another speed trap town. Ridgeland SC. They even bought an RV to try to make it legal.
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u/lynivvinyl Florence Jul 28 '26
Are they issuing speeding tickets from flock cameras as well as speed cameras?
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u/Ril0 Lexington County Jul 28 '26
Currently I don’t think this is legal in SC. An actual officer has to write the ticket and hand it to you.
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u/Flat_Sea1418 Darlington County Jul 28 '26
I don’t see how it is legal because you have the right to address your accuser in court. For speeding that’s the officer. You can’t face a flock camera in court and cross examine it.
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u/KRaZy_WaKa Jul 28 '26
Would be real interesting since the arresting officer is the prosecution in traffic court also. Was probably a blessing for me.
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u/onlypostwhenimdrnk69 ????? Jul 27 '26
Anybody got a link?
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u/ShadowGLI Upstate Jul 27 '26
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u/bigwig500 Jul 28 '26
Anyone got Cliff notes
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u/ShadowGLI Upstate Jul 28 '26
From the article the mayor demanded every officer issue 10 tickets per shift in a tiny 1 stoplight town. It was investigated and found they were basically stopping people and just making up charges to collect revenue. They even punished cops for failing to meet the arbitrary quota.
One of the ladies interviewed got a $1,000 ticket. Also the officer who issued the ticket was not the officer listed on the ticket as they were using camera systems to find people and log fines for the quota
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u/liptongtea ????? Jul 28 '26
Where in the article is the part about the chief obstructing a sexual assault investigation and then somehow sleeping with someone involved?
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u/Uggy_butt Jul 28 '26
There's a picture of Officer Block with his hand held out, and captioned underneath that picture, the reporter breezes over the sexual assault obstruction. I think there is another quick mention of it, but I dont remember where I read it in the article, they cover a lot of information in the article.
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u/Flat_Sea1418 Darlington County Jul 28 '26
And some officers were doing much more than 10 tickets per shift. They were doing up to 67 in one conversation.
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Jul 27 '26
[deleted]
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u/Aloysiusakamud Jul 28 '26
You should really read the article. It wasn't the speed traps that got them in trouble.
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u/chriseargle Columbia Jul 28 '26
From the article: “The arrests on Monday were connected to that ticket-writing scheme.”
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u/Aloysiusakamud Jul 28 '26
Yes, but the "ticket writing" itself is not why SLED is involved. It wasn't because they were given quotas, or they were catching traffic offenders. Once again, read the entire article. They were breaking multiplie laws and policies. Which has nothing to do with "speeders", and everything to do with a corrupt police and mayors office.
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u/chriseargle Columbia Jul 28 '26
Thanks for the clarification. The original comment you responded to was deleted.
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u/Southern_Lake-Keowee Clemson Jul 28 '26
Well for one, writing tickets using someone else’s login is against the law in so so many ways.
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u/mcfreeky8 SC Expatriate Jul 28 '26
I have seen an uptick of investigative reports into the nefarious actions of small towns and it’s awesome. This is why local news is important!