Midlands city has new police chief two months after predecessor’s departure

Following the loss of its first independent police chief since the 1980s, the Cayce Police Department has named a new leader.

Herbert Blake was announced as the city’s next top lawman two months after former Chief Chris Cowan stepped down to take a job at the University of South Carolina. Cowan was the first to serve as chief after the city of nearly 14,000 split up its police and fire departments in 2022. The city’s fire and police services were merged into a single department in the 1980s.

Blake, a veteran police officer who currently serves as chief deputy for the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office in Asheville, North Carolina, will retire from this position at the end of this month before heading down the mountain to Cayce, a news release said. In the meantime, Interim Chief Shawn Grant continues to fill the role.

“Chief Herbert Blake’s experience, and reputation as a leader in professional policing across North and South Carolina stood out to each of us that served on the selection committee,” Cayce Interim City Manager Jim Crosland said in a news release. “I look forward to him leading our police department and serving the citizens of Cayce.”

A native South Carolinian, Blake started his law enforcement career in the Palmetto State at the Ridgeland Police Department. Following that, he served as police chief of the Loris Police Department in Horry County for seven years before serving 13 years as chief for the Hendersonville Police Department in North Carolina. Those two cities have respective populations of less than 3,000 and more than 15,000.

Cowan left Cayce for the University of South Carolina’s Joseph F. Rice School of Law, joining a grant-funded program to support law enforcement agencies with professional development and leadership training.

Hiring a new police chief fills one of two prominent vacancies in Cayce, as Crosland is filling the role of city manager following the July exit of Tracy Hegler , whose departure left some in the community questioning whether she was forced out following a tense process to balance the city’s budget.