Month: September 2026

National First Responders Appreciation Day: Showing up for our community on their hardest days

National First Responders Appreciation Day, observed each year on Sept. 27, gives everyone a chance to pause and think about something we often take for granted: the quiet confidence that when we call for help, someone will answer.

National First Responders Appreciation Day is a nationwide effort to honor the men and women who run toward danger when others run away. It reminds us public safety is not just a profession, a shift or a uniform. Public safety is a calling. It’s about the patrol deputies, firefighters, paramedics, dispatchers and detention deputies who step into the unknown every single day to protect the lives and livelihoods of people they have never met.

For communities, families and public safety agencies, this is an important time to talk openly about the vital role these dedicated professionals play in our daily lives. From managing critical incidents on our roads to providing lifesaving medical care in a crisis, their work demands a rare combination of skill, courage and compassion. Each shift they work points to the same truth: a strong, resilient community is built on the shoulders of those willing to serve.

More than 200 years of answering the call

Here in Lexington County, that tradition of service runs deeper than most people realize. The Lexington County Sheriff’s Department traces its roots back more than two centuries, to 1806, when Thomas S. Herbert became the county’s first recorded sheriff. What began as a single lawman serving a rural county has grown into a modern public safety agency serving more than 300,000 residents.

Today’s LCSD looks nothing like the one-person operation of the early 1800s, but the mission has never changed: be there when your neighbors need you. That mission now spans patrol deputies working 12-hour shifts around the clock, school resource officers walking the halls with our kids, a K-9 unit, a dive team, marine patrol on our lakes and rivers, crime scene investigators, detention deputies and the judicial services team that quietly handles thousands of warrants and civil process requests every year. Every one of those roles exists for the same reason: someone, somewhere in Lexington County, is going to need help today.

A commitment that goes beyond the shift

Most people only see first responders when something goes wrong, but their service to our community is a constant presence. Whether they’re patrolling our neighborhoods, teaching safety classes in our schools, monitoring our roads or answering emergency calls in the middle of the night, first responders are always working to keep us safe.

Being a first responder means carrying a unique kind of weight. It means showing up with focus and professionalism during a crisis, even when the situation is difficult or unpredictable. It means putting the needs of others ahead of their own comfort, safety and peace of mind.

Behind every badge, patch and radio transmission is a person. They’re our neighbors, our friends, our youth sports coaches and our family members. They’re individuals who make the conscious choice to stand between our community and harm, knowing the demands of the job are high.

How we can show our support

Community members don’t have to wait for an emergency to show our appreciation. There are simple, everyday choices to support first responders.

When you see emergency lights on the road, slow down and move over safely. When you hear a siren, yield the right of way immediately. Simple actions such as keeping your eyes on the road, avoiding distractions and driving responsibly make the work of first responders much safer.

A simple thank you can also make a real difference. Showing appreciation for a first responder can be as easy as offering a friendly wave, writing a note of thanks or simply acknowledging their presence in our community.

Service is about being there when it matters most

In Lexington County, National First Responders Appreciation Day is an opportunity to renew our appreciation for the people who stand ready to help us at a moment’s notice. Whether they are responding to a medical emergency, managing a critical scene or working behind the scenes to keep our operations running smoothly, their dedication keeps us strong.

A safe, thriving community is built on trust, respect and mutual support. This Sept. 27, let’s use National First Responders Appreciation Day as a reminder to thank the men and women who dedicate their lives to public service.

Ready to answer the call yourself?

If you’re interested in stepping up to become a first responder and serving the Lexington County community, we have opportunities available at the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department. Our team is built on four values: professionalism, compassion, honesty and relationships. If those words just mean more to you, you’re exactly the kind of person we’d like to talk with.

Visit JoinLCSD.com to learn more about a career with us — and become part of a tradition of service that’s been answering the call in Lexington County for more than 200 years.

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A new school year, a familiar face: Why Deputy Hannah Barr became a school resource officer

The first bell of the new school year has rung across Lexington County. New backpacks, new teachers, new schedules — and in the hallways, some new faces wearing a badge. One of them belongs to School Resource Officer Hannah Barr, and for her, those hallways are closer to home than most: her own children are students in the very district she’s now serving.

This school year, Barr steps into a new role as a school resource officer — a sworn deputy of the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department whose beat isn’t a stretch of highway, but a school: its students, staff and the families behind them. Her road to that hallway is a story about community; and it starts on the other side of the radio.

The other side of the radio

Before the badge, there was a headset. Barr began her public safety career in 2018 as a dispatcher, the calm voice guiding deputies to the calls she couldn’t yet run herself.

“I absolutely loved dispatching — I would go back dispatching — but I’ve grown to love law enforcement more. I didn’t realize how much more I would love it on this side than on that side of the radio.”

In September 2025 she joined the Sheriff’s Department, graduated from the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy in January and went straight to patrol answering calls across the county she was born and raised in.

‘Not in my cards’

If you ask her whether she always planned to work in schools, she’s honest: no.

“Initially, I didn’t think being an SRO was in my cards. But after learning more about being an SRO and being around the SROs this past summer and spring break, I quickly learned that it would fit better with my family and my home life. My children are in the district as students themselves.”

That’s the part that makes this move different. When the bell rings, SRO Barr won’t just be watching over Lexington County’s students, she’ll be one of the parents in the pickup line too.

What the road taught her

Her patrol duties provided a crash course in the skill every SRO leans on most: connection.

“As a deputy on the road, you don’t have a choice but to talk to people. You get out on these calls on your own, you’re face-to-face and you have to build rapport very easily. Sometimes it’s a little harder to build that with children, because they’re looking at you in a different light — but I’ve been to calls with children involved and that’s definitely going to help me out a lot.”

She’ll miss the road, and she doesn’t pretend otherwise. The 10-plus people she meets every shift, the calls, the getting out there. But the connections aren’t stopping. They’re just moving indoors.

A goal for the new school year

Barr’s goal for year one isn’t complicated and that’s what makes it good.

“At the end of the day, they’re going to be our future. Having a connection with these students early on as a police officer shows them we’re here to help.”

It’s the same philosophy behind programs across the department, from the Community Action Team to National Night Out — where deputies and the neighbors they serve connect face-to-face.

‘Just start’

Not even a year separates Barr from her own first step into law enforcement. So her advice for anyone weighing the same move, SRO in the cards or not, comes fresh:

“Just start. The hardest part is starting. There are always going to be pros and cons and people coming at you from different directions, but until you’re in it yourself, you won’t be able to make that true decision. Just start and figure out if it’s for you.”

If that sounds like you, the department is hiring. You can explore openings at joinLCSD.com. Students curious about the career can start even earlier through the Law Enforcement Explorers Program.

This school year, SRO Barr begins her next chapter in the county where her story started — from the dispatch desk, to the patrol car, to the hallway. Different beat, same mission: showing up for the community she grew up in and for the students who are its future.

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