SPARTANBURG, S.C. — Art D. Littlejohn formally became Spartanburg’s chief of police Friday afternoon, signing his oath of office in front of a big crowd of relatives, fellow officers and residents at the Spartanburg County Public Libraries Headquarters.
City Manager Chris Story told the crowd the search for a chief reached across the country before Littlejohn rose to the top. Littlejohn joined the department in 1988 and spent the next 38 years in jobs that ranged from patrol officer and D.A.R.E. instructor to crime prevention sergeant, patrol lieutenant and head of the Office of Professional Standards.
He came to policing almost by accident. A radio ad in 1988 said the department was looking for minority officers, so he sat for the civil service exam and passed. Before that, he sang and played bass and keyboards in a touring band called Next Up.
In his first remarks as chief, Littlejohn said the job is about people rather than rank, and that officers will keep to the department’s core values of integrity, respect, pride, loyalty and accountability. He has long called community policing his specialty, and he said building ties with residents matters more than arrest counts or call totals.
Section: More Spartanburg SC crime news
Filed under: Spartanburg SC Public Safety News
