COLUMBIA, S.C. - One of the few original State
Law Enforcement Division agents has been buried.
Capt. Dan Beckman, who wore badge No. 3 and was there when the
agency was founded in 1947, was laid to rest Monday, two days after
his family said he died from lung and heart problems at his Chapin
home. Beckman was 85.
Beckman served alongside legendary SLED Chief J.P. Strom and
local police often would turn to him for help when Strom was
unavailable, current SLED Chief Robert Stewart said,
He was a true servant of the people of this state and this agency
- longer than anyone else," Stewart said. "He is the only person
that I ever heard of receiving a 50-year service pin."
Beckman was born in McClellanville. His father was a magistrate
judge and he attended Furman University for three years before
joining the Army and serving as a military policeman in World War
II, relatives said.
At SLED, Beckman trained the agency's first bloodhound team and
rose to assistant chief. He helped protect the late Sen. Strom
Thurmond and was a mentor to many younger agents.
But it was something Beckman never did in his career that he was
the proudest of, his nephew Gerald Woolsey said.
"He never drew his weapon in the line of duty," Woolsey said. "He
used reason and persuasion to get things done."
A good example of his skills came when Beckman was investigating
a property fraud case in the Lowcountry, said Pete Stokes, a retired
agent who worked the case with Beckman.
The victim "not only spoke Geechee talk but he stuttered," Stokes
said.
But Beckman had learned the dialect of the sea islands during his
years along the coast and by using his patience he was able to
understand the victim. "If Dan hadn't spoken Geechee, we wouldn't
have solved the case," Stokes said.
Beckman's funeral near Irmo drew a number of SLED agents and
current officers from local and state agencies. He was buried in he
same cemetery where Chief Strom was laid to rest.
"It's a lot like a family reunion when you come to an event like
this," said the Rev. Eric Skidmore, SLED's chaplain.
