Serving As Sheriff A Lifelong Goal for Looper

Sheriff candidate Billy Looper knew at an early age he wanted to be in law enforcement.

He was a law enforcement cadet at the age of 14, and he set a goal of himself even then – serving as Sheriff of Pickens County.

“It's just been a lifelong goal of mine ever since I was a cadet,” Looper said. “I knew I wanted a career in law enforcement, knew I wanted to be sheriff. I've always wanted to serve Pickens County as Sheriff and be responsible for those law enforcement services.”

Soon after graduating from Easley High School in1985, Looper joined the Clemson Police Department 

“I was a police officer for a number of years, in uniform patrol,” Looper said.
He then went to work for the Greenville County Sheriff's Office, where he worked for nine years, rising to the rank of Investigator in the Narcotics Unit of the Criminal Investigations Division.

During this time, he completed his education. He earned an Associates Degree in Public Service with an emphasis on Criminal Justice Technology from Tri-County Technical College. He earned his Bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice from Anderson University and a Master's degree in Public Administration from Columbus State University, majoring in Justice Administration.

After leaving the Greenville County Sheriff's Office, Looper joined the State Law Enforcement Division, where he served as the Pickens County SLED agent for five years. When David Crenshaw was elected Sheriff of Anderson County, he tapped Looper to lead the “proactive units,” Looper said.

“I was over Narcotics, Traffic, Lake Patrol, Aggressive Criminal Enforcement and Drug Interdiction,” he said.

Looper assisted in the creation of a Highway Interdiction team that after only one year in operation earned the distinction of “2007 Interdiction Team of the Year” honors from the National Criminal Enforcement Association.

When Sheriff John Skipper was elected, Looper moved into overseeing the Office of Professional Standards at the Anderson County Sheriff's Office.
“That included Internal Affairs, Law Enforcement Accreditation, Background Investigations and Jail Investigations,” Looper said.

In 2008, Looper was named President of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Officers Assocation, where he represented the concerns of over 10,000 police officers.

In 2009, Looper was named Anderson University’s Criminal Justice Alumnus of the year.
His professional training includes successfully completing programs with the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy, the Georgia Law Enforcement Command College, the U.S. Attorney Drug Unit Commander’s School and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency’s Drug Unit Commander Academy in Quantico, VA.

Looper is a Past Master of the Keowee Masonic Lodge and has served on the board of directors for the Pickens County Shrine Club, as well as Special Olympics South Carolina.
Billy is most proud of his son Brandon, a 2011 graduate of Pickens High School, who is in his freshmen year at Anderson University and also serves our community as a volunteer Firefighter with the Pickens Fire Department.

He retired from the Anderson County Sheriff's Office in February 2011 and worked in the private sector for a year before deciding to devote himself full-time to his campaign to become sheriff.

If elected sheriff, Looper said he would “redeploy the existing resources.”
“We have enough deputies, it's just the structure's wrong,” Looper said. “I want to increase manpower in uniform patrol as well as narcotic and criminal investigations. I believe that if we concentrate on our narcotics enforcement and we're effective with that, our property crime will come down.” 

One of his goals is to implement a Senior Watch program.

Senior Watch would be an automated phone system, manned by volunteers or retirees, that would check up on area seniors who sign up for it.

“It checks in on them,” Looper said. “If they're okay, it hangs up and goes to the next person. If they don't respond … we would try to make sure they're okay.

“It's an added service that we can provide at little extra cost,” Looper said. “I like to take care of our most vulnerable citizens, our children and our elderly folks, because they're more likely to be a victim   of crime.” 

He said he would also like to “cultivate and maintain community partnerships.”

“Folk know more about what's going on in their neighborhood than law enforcement does,” Looper said.

The program would pair deputies with citizens, each working together to keep the communities safe and crime-free.

“They'd know each other by name and they know what's out of place in the area,” Looper said. “It's giving citizens buy-in and ownership of the services provided by the Sheriff's Office.”

He said he'd like to create “cross-training opportunities” for all deputies in the Sheriff's Office.

“It would give them ownership in their career paths,” Looper said.

A Uniform Patrol deputy could cross-train with the Narcotics Unit for a time, to see if that job is right for them.

“They can pretty well decide pretty quick if they like an area,” Looper said. “They could work in Narcotics for 30, 60, 90 days and they may decide it's not for them or they may decide it's what they really want to do.”

He called the cross-training “a win-win-win” situation.

“It gives the officers some ownership in their career path, but it also shows who would be really suited for those jobs when those openings occur.”

The cross-training would help the different divisions understand each other – and what their jobs entail and require.

“If a road patrol officer is at a drug house, and had cross-trained with Narcotics, he's going to be better understand what narcotics laws might be being broken.

If they've trained with criminal investigations, it's going to enhance their investigation skills when they're working larcenies or other crimes.

“It's a great thing for the department all around,” Looper continued. “It will increase the tools in the toolbox when the officer is working the road and it will help the agency as a whole.”