What Police Departments Need to Know About Act 218

After much input from the law enforcement community and others, the South Carolina General Assembly passed Act 218, or H3050, in May. This legislation codified many law enforcement standards statewide and has become part of an ongoing effort in recent years to improve upon best practices and address the risk management needs of police departments.

Here are key points of the law that city and town officials need to know: 

Effective July 1, 2022, recruits who have not yet attained certification from the SC Criminal Justice Academy cannot work as law enforcement officers unless accompanied by a certified officer at all times. Communication by radio or phone is not sufficient to fulfill this requirement. Many departments had already required officers to become certified before working to help ensure that police work is conducted in a safe and legally sound way, but the law had previously allowed officers to work as an officer independently for up to a year after their hiring. 

In recent years, the SCCJA has reduced wait times for officers to enter the academy to less than two weeks, making the process of getting new recruits certified easier. 

The law added to the definitions of officer misconduct, found at SC Code Section 23-23-150, “the willful failure to intervene” when observing an officer abusing someone, and “the willful and knowing failure to promptly report another officer” for abusing someone. These sections of the law seek to reduce officer abuse and hold them accountable in instances of misconduct.

The law also requires agencies to report officer misconduct to the SCCJA within 15 days of the final agency or department action resulting from an internal investigation. This change in the law attempts to ensure officers’ misconduct is not swept under the rug by their agency.

SC Code Section 23-1-250 now states that the use of a chokehold restricting airflow or a carotid hold restricting blood flow is allowed only in cases where the use of deadly force is justified, such as when a person’s life is in danger. This section also directs the Law Enforcement Training Council to develop training and standards for chokeholds and carotid holds.  

Act 218 updated and mandates a set of minimum standards for law enforcement agencies. The new standards take effect January 1, 2023. These minimum standards, focusing on areas identified by the General Assembly, are developed by the SC Law Enforcement Training Council. Departments may establish additional standards that are more restrictive, however they may not use standards that are less restrictive. The minimum standards involve these points:

As the Training Council developed the policies, it sought input from numerous law enforcement agencies, organizations and the Municipal Association, with a final version released by SCCJA in September.  

The law calls for the Law Enforcement Training Council to establish a compliance division to review the minimum standards every three years and make sure that departments are complying with them. 

The enforcement mechanisms created by the law for noncompliant departments are significant. Penalties include fines of up to $1,000 per violation per day. The Training Council may also “hold in abeyance,” or temporarily suspend, the certification of every officer working for a department. This would functionally block the department’s ability to enforce the law until the compliance issue is resolved.