Several deputies and sheriff’s office employees told the Hampton County Council on Dec. 15 that a lack of up-to-date equipment and slow information-technology systems are placing officers and the public at risk.

"Canine Achilles . . . deserves to be cared for," said Stephanie Hughes, a deputy who urged the council to address vehicle safety, heat alarms and other missing equipment after a recent standoff she described as life-threatening for her K-9 partner. "If the time comes, K-9 Achilles is ready to do the unthinkable and will protect his people . . . and to say that he doesn't have the equipment to keep him safe in the meantime is a liability and a terrible disservice to him and the rest of our deputies." (Stephanie Hughes, public comment)

Deputy Frances Sanders described serving shifts without air conditioning and recounted patrol vehicles that have shut off during calls, saying she has bought a fan for her vehicle to cope with summer heat. "To say that my vehicle can't get fixed over a $40 part, that's crazy," Sanders said, describing the personal and operational toll of unreliable equipment.

Irvin Ford, who said he has 11 years of prior service elsewhere and 3.5 years with the Hampton County Sheriff's Office, recounted a February 2024 incident in which he and another deputy were shot at and his patrol car would not accelerate when he tried to flee the scene. "You can imagine the shock when I went to put the foot on the gas pedal and it wouldn't go," Ford said, urging council to revisit funding for vehicles, hiring and retention.

Other deputies at the podium echoed those concerns and pointed to IT problems that hampered investigations. One deputy said it took "two hours and 45 minutes" to log onto a computer and send an email during a recent operation, delaying investigative work. Council members and staff confirmed that 48 new computers were delivered last Tuesday but said a deployment and security plan was still being finalized and the machines were temporarily secured until rollout.

The council heard repeated calls for clearer deployment timetables. Administrator (IT lead) said the deployment plan had been provided "late last week" and that the county planned to execute distribution "at some point this week." Councilmember 2 pressed the point: "While that plan is being worked on, we got employees out here with dire need situations, and the computers are in [storage] . . . when are we going to suffer departments until we come up with a plan that should already been in place?"

Several deputies also urged the council to consider after-hours purchasing options for emergency operations. During a later agenda item, council approved a county credit-card policy and asked the administrator to review a prepaid card option for emergency services after 5 p.m., a procedural concession that deputies had requested during public comment.

The council did not vote on any direct funding measures during the public-comment period. The administrator and council members said they would continue discussions about deployment of the recently delivered computers and other operational needs in the coming weeks. The council moved into executive session later in the meeting for a personnel matter.

What's next: Council members directed the administrator to pursue deployment logistics for the new computers and to report back; the approved procedural review of a prepaid emergency card leaves a potential avenue for deputies to request faster access to equipment in urgent situations.