Sullivan's Island Magazine April 2018

8 www.SullivansIslandMagazine.com | www.SullivansIslandHomes.com Serving His Fellow Citizens C hristopher Griffin has always wanted to be a policeman, to serve his fellow citizens not only as a law enforcement officer but also as someone who can be counted on to help in a variety of situations. He apparently attained his dream job in January 2018, when he was sworn in as the Sullivan’s Island police chief. He plans to stay a while. “I won’t leave here unless I have no choice. I would like to stay and retire here as long as the town will have me,” said Griffin, who is 43 years old. “I love it here.” Griffin, who had served as acting chief beginning in April 2017, has spent much of his adult life with the Sullivan’s Island Police Department, beginning in August 1997. Along the way, he has been a patrolman, a corporal/ By Brian Sherman detective and a lieutenant. He started his police career in North Charleston, where he said there were 300 officers, compared with just seven or eight when he moved on to Sullivan’s Island. Today, Griffin’s department includes 10 police officers, an animal control officer and a reserve officer. When the warm weather arrives, he adds four additional employees, two to patrol the beach and two to work in parking enforcement. There is no administrative staff to answer the phone or handle paperwork. “No one sits in the office all day,” he explained. Griffin admitted that crime on Sullivan’s Island is not a major issue – “not compared to the rest of the world.” Most of what his department deals with are property Photo by Brian Sherman. SI Police Chief Christopher Griffin Sullivan’s Island Police Chief Christopher Griffin, right, talks with Town Administrator Andy Benke, seated in an Army surplus vehicle obtained by the town last year.