‘Lesson learned:’ Lake City mayor acknowledges misstep in police chief hiring announcement after News13 reporting

LAKE CITY, S.C. (WBTW) — Lake City officials were premature in announcing the hiring of Emmanuel Williams as the town’s next police chief last month, going public with the news before a background check had been completed, the town’s mayor said on Wednesday.

“The process was not done incorrectly. The only thing we did wrong, and I will take ownership of it, is that we took part, along with Mr. Williams, in announcing him as our new police chief too soon,” Mayor Yamekia Robinson said at a news conference. “Lesson learned on our part.”

News13 learned three days after Williams’ hiring was announced on Feb. 23 — and was first to report — that he had been fired from the Chesterfield County Sheriff’s Office in 2015 over an undisclosed policy violation.

Robinson acknowledged on Wednesday that media reporting played into Williams’ decision to rescind his interest in the job. Two days after News13’s report on the 2015 firing, city leaders confirmed he had backed out of the position.

“We took all of this into consideration and had a conversation with Mr. Williams,” Robinson said. “The search for a police chief continues. The hiring committee will reconvene in the next couple of weeks to discuss how we will proceed with this search. The process was not done incorrectly, the only thing we did wrong, and I will take ownership of, is that we took part, along with Mr. Williams in announcing him as our next police chief too soon.”

City leaders hoped Williams would bring stability to a position that’s been open for nearly half a year. He was supposed to start on Monday.

“We will have a police chief soon, a person that will lead this department and serve our community to the best of their ability,” Robinson said. “It will not be based on their age, whether they are male or female, or on the color of their skin. Let’s stop pulling the race card for everything. It will be based on the best-qualified person.”

Robinson said she wanted to address the situation publicly at a news conference to quash rumors and negativity that has been brewing on social media and through the city of fewer than 6,000 residents. Robinson also encouraged community members to speak with her face-to-face about their concerns or questions on the matter.

“So, when we’re learning together, we take those falls together too,” Robinson said. “So, when that decision was made, we were very enthused, we were very happy we were ready to support that person who’s going to be our next chief, and we started to just get it out there. And like I said, we will take that ownership we did it too soon before we received all the information we needed to receive.”

“Our city is and should be about unity,” Robinson continued. “Where there is division, there is no success or growth.”

The Lake City Police Department is almost fully staffed with only two positions to fill. Mayor Robinson said the department has applications from all over the country as far away as Texas.

Robinson also spoke on the town’s planned opening of a community center this summer that eventually will house a youth esports team and other recreational programs.

The site, to be called LC 278, is opening in a building that once hosted classes for Florence-Darlington Technical College but had since fallen into disrepair.

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Hannah Huffstickler is a multimedia journalist at News13. She joined the News13 team in January 2024 after graduating from Coastal Carolina University in December of 2023. Keep up with Hannah on Facebook and Instagram . You can also read more of her work here .

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Adam Benson joined the News13 digital team in January 2024. He is a veteran South Carolina reporter with previous stops at the Greenwood Index-Journal, Post & Courier and The Sun News in Myrtle Beach. Adam is a Boston native and University of Utah graduate. Follow Adam on X, formerly Twitter, at @AdamNewshound12 . See more of his work here .

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