Employees warned to stay out of bars

Colleton County Sheriff George Malone told his employees this week that they risk losing their jobs if they step inside any local bar or nightclub while off duty.

Malone said that many of the county's recent deadly shootings have either occurred in or stemmed from arguments at some of the county's clubs and bars and that it's unethical for his employees to frequent those same places.

Any of the department's 125 employees, from administrators to the clerical staff, will be

reprimanded or worse if they violate the rule, Malone said.

"If I find out about it, they could lose their jobs," Malone said Tuesday.

Colleton County is the only sheriff's office in the Lowcountry to restrict where employees can drink or hang out in their free time.

The sheriff's offices in Charleston, Dorchester and Berkeley counties all have codes of conduct that prohibit employees from acting in a disorderly manner, but they do not prohibit employees from drinking at nightclubs or bars, as long as they're not in uniform or on duty.

Malone said the restriction is how he interprets what has been department policy for as many as 18 years.

He said he called a department-wide meeting Monday night to remind employees about the policy after hearing rumors that some employees have been frequenting bars and clubs. He also wanted to clarify that it does not include drinking alcohol at restaurants, which typically close earlier, or bars and nightclubs outside of the county limits.

"It's not anything new," he said, "but people have been ignoring it lately."

No one complained or questioned the policy at the meeting, he said, but the fact that the newspaper already learned about it indicates that some employees are unhappy with it.

"We're trying to set a positive example," he said. "That's what I'm trying to do, anyway. Maybe we've got some people who don't care one way or the other."

Colleton's policy, last revised in 2006, reads that "Except in the line of duty, employees shall not visit any bar, tavern, lounge or other establishment suspected by law enforcement as being a place of actual or probable law violation or a place that is frequented by known criminal elements."

Malone said he interprets that to mean employees should not frequent any bar, tavern or lounge in the county.

"That's how I want it to be enforced," he said. "While I'm the sheriff, that is not going to change."

Malone said he suspects other criminal activities are taking place at some of the bars and nightclubs, and said some of them are known hangouts for suspected gang members.

The county of 38,000 people has had two fatal nightclub shootings in recent months.

Lamont Truesdale, 31, of Jacksonboro was shot to death in June after he reportedly robbed Leon's nightclub in the Round-O area with a shotgun, according to the Sheriff's Office. Elijah Martin, 58, of Cottageville was charged with murder.

Deputies charged Derrick Phillip Leonard Fishburne, 24, with murder in the April 10 death of 27-year-old Donald Green outside the Spirits Lounge on Jefferies Highway.

Malone said a deputy is never really off duty. If a deputy is drinking at a club when an incident occurs, it not only makes the department look bad, he said, but also could lead to problems.

"How can you be expected to go to these places and make arrests and try to catch people for DUI, when we're out there doing the same things?" Malone said.