The Aiken County Sheriff’s Office built its reputation on protecting the community. This week, that same office had to turn inward and do something painful — fire four of its own after an investigation revealed the kind of behavior that no badge should ever be attached to.
The trouble started quietly, the way these things usually do. Rumors and allegations began circulating inside the department, serious enough that leadership had no choice but to launch a full internal investigation. What they found when the dust settled was deeply troubling — a pattern of misconduct that touched everything from the patrol floor to the dispatch center, involving employees at various levels of seniority.
At the center of it all was Staff Sergeant Kyle Burkett. According to the investigation, Burkett — in full uniform, on duty, on the taxpayer’s clock — engaged in sexual activity with an off-duty dispatcher and an off-duty deputy inside county facilities. The department also found that agency resources were misused to keep these inappropriate relationships going. For a supervisor in a position of public trust, it was an extraordinary breach.
But the story didn’t end there. On April 18, three of the employees involved stepped out for a night of drinking at a local establishment in Aiken County. One of them was under 21. Rather than looking out for their younger colleague, the group provided them alcohol anyway. After the night out, the underage employee got behind the wheel of their own vehicle, visibly impaired. Burkett, still in his patrol uniform, followed the car home instead of intervening. The very officer who should have upheld the law watched it get broken right in front of him.
The firings came in quick succession. Burkett was terminated first on May 13. Deputy Ashley Meyer, who had given nine years to the department since 2015, was next on May 14. Dispatchers Hannah Lamb and Taylor Cable — both relatively new hires — were let go on May 15. Combined, the four employees took decades of service history out the door with them, along with the public’s trust.
For the families and residents of Aiken County, it stings. These weren’t strangers — they were the men and women dispatched to answer calls, respond to emergencies, and uphold the law in their own backyard. Sheriff Marty Sawyer acknowledged the weight of that reality head-on. “The integrity of this office is essential to maintaining the confidence of the community we serve,” he said in a statement. “We will be transparent and continue working to ensure the highest standards of professionalism and integrity are maintained throughout our organization.” It was the kind of statement that had to be made — but one the department surely wished it never had to issue.
No criminal charges have been announced as of Friday, but the department confirmed it would be sending misconduct reports to the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy. That body oversees law enforcement certification across the state, meaning the professional futures of all four individuals remain very much in question. Whether badges, handcuffs, or dispatch headsets are ever in their futures again is now someone else’s call to make.
