Yemassee Police Department opens new $2M headquarters, moving out of City Hall

YEMASSEE, S.C. (WTOC) - After years of operating out of cramped, shared quarters, the Yemassee Police Department has officially opened the doors to its own dedicated, state-of-the-art facility.

On Monday, the department held a ribbon-cutting ceremony and invited members of the public to tour the brand-new $2 million building.

For Yemassee Police Chief Gregory Alexander, the milestone is the culmination of a decade-long vision.

“I had the dream of wanting to open up a building for our own department over ten years ago,” Chief Alexander said. “At one point in time, cutting the ribbon on our own building was a fever dream.”

That dream began turning into a reality in 2024 when the state approved funding for the project, which was paired with support from the local community.

Moving out of the ‘broom closet’

Before the opening of the new headquarters, the police department operated directly inside Yemassee City Hall, sharing limited space with several other municipal departments.

Perhaps no one felt the squeeze of the old setup more than longtime evidence custodian Dawn Crawford.

“It was basically a nine-by-nine broom closet, and now I have this,” Crawford said, gesturing around the new facility.

The new headquarters features a vastly expanded evidence division, providing Crawford with several dedicated rooms to organize files and process cases securely.

“I actually have rooms for guns and drugs. Like, actual rooms that I can put stuff in,” Crawford added.

Built for training, retention, and decompression

In addition to secure storage, the new facility brings resources to Yemassee that the department previously had to outsource or forego entirely.

Among the upgrades is a dedicated multi-purpose room designed to host departmental, community, and cross-agency training.

“We didn’t have the real estate; we didn’t have enough space for folks to come in and teach big classes,” Chief Alexander said. “Now, we can afford that opportunity.”

The building also includes a conference room, a break room, an on-site gym, an outdoor grill area, and private offices for investigators and senior staff members—spaces that were nonexistent in City Hall. Chief Alexander noted that having private offices has already provided a major boost to staff morale.

“You wouldn’t believe how they have latched on just by having their own office to be able to hang the pictures of their kids,” Alexander said.

Crucially, the new amenities provide officers with a dedicated space to process the daily stresses of the job.

“It’s a place where they can feel at peace,” Alexander said. “If they had a bad call or a tragic accident on the interstate, they can come back and wind down.”

A bridge to the community

Beyond serving law enforcement, Chief Alexander emphasizes that the $2 million building belongs to the town of Yemassee. The department hopes the space will encourage more positive, daily interactions with residents.

“Now, they have a facility where they can come, they can enjoy, and come talk to the police officers,” Chief Alexander said. “They can come have a cup of coffee with us. If you want to have a cup of coffee with the chief, you can do that and not be crowded in City Hall with other citizens.”

With this opening, the Yemassee Police Department becomes one of the very first municipal departments in Hampton County to operate out of its own dedicated building.

The county may see another ribbon-cutting soon; the Estill Police Department is also in the process of building a new headquarters, which is expected to open in /December