Chief Ron Camacho takes News 2 on Christmas Day ride along
Dec 25, 2024
NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) - Ron Camacho brought News 2 on a ride along for Christmas Day patrolling.
The North Charleston Police Chief spoke about his background, his goals, and his adjustments to the Lowcountry. We responded to two calls involving domestic violence and a window tint violation.
"The interaction, them laughing, everything is good and professional, which is exactly the type of officers that we want. The type of interaction we want," said Camacho, as the driver was let off with a warning.
As Camacho is learning more about his station and its culture, he said he is taking it in before making any major changes.
"Leadership is leadership. Management is management, it's just getting a handle on all the tentacles that are out there and seeing how they handle business," Camacho said. "Then just adjusting."
One of the visions he has for his new department is to bring greater attention to education.
"I plan on working with the mayor to up the educational assistance that we provide our officers,' Camacho said. "Educated officers and officers with bachelor degrees is evidenced that less use of force incidents, less complaints, better critical thinking."
Though the new police chief has made a jump from a smaller department, he believes he is in the right place after having nearly 30 years of law enforcement experience.
"When you look at stuff like, it's always, they say in policing you have to be the right fit. I think what I've done, the type of policing, and my personality - it was the right fit for this department. So, I'm happy," Camacho said. "Serendipity, you know, how everything lined up took some luck and hard work."
The police chief said he is implementing some training for his department in January.