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TO CONGRATULATE AND HONOR CHIEF W. WALLACE OSWALD OF THE BATESBURG-LEESVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT UPON RECEIVING THE 2021 SOUTH CAROLINA LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS ASSOCIATION LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD.
Whereas, the South Carolina House of Representatives is pleased to learn that Batesburg-Leesville Chief of Police W. Wallace Oswald was recently presented the 2021 South Carolina Law Enforcement Officers Association Lifetime Achievement Award. The ceremony, held on November 19, 2021, took place in Myrtle Beach during the South Carolina Law Enforcement Conference; and
Whereas, Chief Oswald began his law enforcement career serving as an officer for the Batesburg Police Department in 1976. He was chosen to lead the department as the agency's chief of police in 1980. Chief Oswald continued to serve as the agency's chief until the Town of Batesburg and the Town of Leesville consolidated in 1993. At that time, he was selected to lead the newly consolidated Batesburg-Leesville Police Department as its chief. He has continued to serve in this position to the present day; and
Whereas, during his tenure, Chief Oswald has implemented numerous agency initiatives and programs that have improved quality of life for the citizens of Batesburg-Leesville, and he has done this while continually improving the standards and professionalism of the Batesburg-Leesville Police Department; and
Whereas, one such initiative included the transition from revolvers to auto pistols. The department's efforts brought it recognition as being one of the first law enforcement agencies in South Carolina to achieve this task. Additionally, Chief Oswald led the Batesburg Police Department as the first agency in Lexington County to establish a Juvenile Arbitration Program, as well in becoming one of the first agencies in the State to issue bullet-resistant vests to its officers. He has diligently monitored law enforcement innovations in technology and has sought to implement this cutting-edge technology to meet the continually changing needs of the Batesburg-Leesville community; and
Whereas, Chief Oswald has served the Batesburg-Leesville community as a law enforcement officer for over forty-five years, continuously. For more than forty-two of these years, he has served as chief of police, first for the Batesburg Police Department and then for the Batesburg-Leesville Police Department. During that time, Chief Oswald graduated from the 147th session of the prestigious FBI National Academy in Quantico, Virginia, in 1986. He also was a recipient of the Order of the Silver Crescent in 2010, as well as of the 2016 Strom Thurmond Award for Excellence in Law Enforcement. Further, Chief Oswald is a U.S. Army veteran, having served on active duty from 1971 to 1974. He later served in the South Carolina National Guard, beginning in 1988, and received the Bronze Star with Oak Leaf Cluster and the Legion of Merit during Operation Iraqi Freedom and while serving in Afghanistan. He retired from the Guard in 2011; and
Whereas, over his many years of service, the influence and leadership Chief Oswald has provided to the South Carolina law enforcement profession have had a resounding impact upon an immeasurable number of law enforcement officers across South Carolina. That impact will be felt for many generations to come; and
Whereas, grateful for Chief Oswald's dedicated service in protecting the citizens of this great State, most particularly those of Batesburg-Leesville, the House of Representatives salutes him on receiving this well-deserved award. Now, therefore,
Be it resolved by the House of Representatives:
That the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives, by this resolution, congratulate and honor Chief W. Wallace Oswald of the Batesburg-Leesville Police Department upon receiving the 2021 South Carolina Law Enforcement Officers Association Lifetime Achievement Award.
Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be presented to Chief W. Wallace Oswald.
This web page was last updated on December 10, 2021 at 11:07 AM