North Charleston Police Captain Rick Keys announces bid for Charleston County sheriff

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD)- Rick Keys, a captain in the North Charleston Police Department, is hoping to step into a new law enforcement role in the Lowcountry.

Applause echoed throughout the lobby of the North Charleston Performing Center Wednesday afternoon as Keys announced that he is joining the race for Charleston County sheriff.

“The problems in this world today are coming across the borders of Charleston County,” Keys said. “I promise the people of Charleston County, if I’m elected sheriff in 2024, you will have a sheriff like you’ve never seen before and you’ll have a sheriff that will be out there with his people doing the job.”

Keys touted his years of experience in law enforcement — he currently serves as captain of NCPD’s Security and Special Projects Bureau — noting how the landscape has changed in the nearly four decades since his career began.

“When I started this job 39 years ago, it was way different than it is today,” he said. “We have a lot more people to look after and the people of Charleston County deserve a sheriff’s office that when they call, we’re coming.”

He said he believes that the sheriff’s office is not operating at full capacity currently and has lost respect within the community.

“I will change that atmosphere at the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO),” he said. “I will have supervisors that will monitor and be told to go out and work with their people.” 

Outgoing North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey expressed his support for Keys’ candidacy during the event, saying “nobody that I know loves law enforcement more than this man.”

“Rick has honored the city for all the years that he’s been here by serving first and that heart of service is what we need in this county and the sheriff’s department,” Summey continued.

Incumbent Sheriff Kristin Graziano announced plans to run for reelection in August. Graziano was sworn-in as sheriff in January 2021, becoming the first woman and openly LGBTQ person to be sworn in as sheriff in South Carolina.

“She is running for re-election, and she looks forward to the campaign,” a CCSO spokesperson said in a statement provided to News 2.

The Deputy Director of Public Safety for Folly Beach, Deputy Chief Rocky Burke, and former Mount Pleasant Police Department Chief Carl Ritchie are also running for the position.

The election will be held in November 2024.