A Sheriff's Captain Flew the Department's Plane to the Beach, and the Public Paid for the Fuel

The Post and Courier's Uncovered team has published an investigation into the use of the Sumter County Sheriff's Office aircraft, and the picture it draws is not one of law enforcement work.

According to the newspaper's reporting, Capt. Chris Moore flew the sheriff's office Cessna 172 to Wilmington, North Carolina in March, and to Cape Fear Regional Jetport in June. The reporters placed the department's flight records next to social media posts from the same dates. The trips appear to have been personal, including sightseeing flights with family. For an independent overview, see SC State Ethics Commission.

The aircraft was bought with seized money. The Cessna was purchased in 2013 using drug seizure funds. The department has said the plane was used roughly 85 percent of the time for lessons and training, which leaves a remainder that the newspaper's records appear to account for.

South Carolina law is not ambiguous on the principle. State ethics law prohibits a public official or public employee from using their position to obtain a personal economic benefit. Whether these flights meet that bar is a question for investigators and, if it goes that far, a court. No charges have been filed.

The response came after the questions started. Sheriff Anthony Dennis said he had temporarily suspended use of the plane and intended to ask Capt. Moore to reimburse the department for the flights. That is an administrative remedy, arrived at after a newspaper began asking about the records, rather than one produced by an internal audit that caught it first.

That pattern, an outside party noticing what the institution did not, recurs throughout the stories collected on this site.

The full investigation, including the records the reporters obtained, is at The Post and Courier.