Simpsonville City Council Names New Police Chief

In a shocking move, Simpsonville City Council on Tuesday night made interim police chief Steve Moore the city's new permanent top cop.

Moore, who took over the department's leadership when his friend and colleague Keith Grounsell was fired on Dec. 28, was taken aback at the surprise decision, which came in a 4-2 vote following an executive session.

Council members Geneva Lawrence and Sylvia Lockaby, fervent Grounsell supporters who want to see him reinstated, voted against the hiring. Council member Julius Wellborn was absent.

Though not ungrateful, Moore found it hard to take much joy in his hiring, which comes amid the rancor that still surrounds Grounsell's controversial dismissal. The former chief's termination has torn the local community apart. So much so, in fact, that some Council members asked for extra security at Tuesday night's meeting after reading posts on social media that troubled them. In addition to extra officers, police scanned crowd members with metal detectors as they entered Council chambers.

"I didn't want it like this, not like this, where you have all this turmoil," Moore told Patch about his hiring. "Keith and I are very close."

Last year, Moore vied for the chief's position, but fell short. In a crowded field of candidates, Moore was the Council's third choice, after Grounsell and assistant chief Colleen O'Neil, who has since resigned. 

During an informal conversation with Patch while the Council met behind closed doors, Moore, who has been with the force since 2009, indicated he would like to be the permanent chief. But he said afterward that he had no idea that Council was conferring to name him as the new chief, and that this was not exactly how, or when, he wanted to get the job, given the circumstances. 

Moore, a soft-spoken man, appeared stunned after the vote and at a loss for words.

"I almost can't talk about it," Moore said. "It's really hard to be happy."

"I feel very strongly that the people that work for me, the people that I'm responsible for, the welfare of the city as well, that's chief in my mind," he added. "That's not going to change; it's always been that way. So, that's basically what's on my mind right now, the well-being of the people that work for the city."

Grounsell was just as surprised as Moore at the decision. So were the many Grounsell supporters who, for a third consecutive Council meeting, came out in force to back the former chief.

Despite that, Grounsell shook Moore's hand, hugged him, and wished his friend well. Many others also congratulated Moore, who is roundly liked.

"Steve's a good man, a good Christian man; I think he'll do a fine job," Grounsell said. "Me and him…we think along the same lines, so I think he's going to go in a direction that's a positive direction…. I think he'll do a jam-up job."

Meantime, Grounsell also said that Moore's hiring doesn't mean he plans to give up his fight against the city for his unwarranted "adversarial firing," the aftermath of which he believes has damaged his name and reputation through "slander and libel" by select city officials and through a stream of public comments on social media and news outlets such as Patch.

Grounsell said that he doesn't plan to give up his fight to possibly being reinstated to his job either, even if that means suing the city for wrongful termination.

"I don't know if I have any other recourse," he said about a lawsuit. "I was wrongfully terminated; I'm being slandered."

Grounsell said he found it odd and misguided that the city would permanently hire anyone for the chief's position now in the current climate and amid the threat of legal action, but admitted it was hard to root against a good man and good cop such as Moore.

"I'm proud of him; and I'm happy for him at the same time," Grounsell said. "It's kind of a weird situation that I find myself in right now."