Date Published: May 5, 2006   

New U.S. attorney sets 5 goals for his office

Keith Gedamke / The Item U.S. Attorney Reggie Lloyd speaks to the Sumter-Palmetto Rotary Club on Thursday afternoon at Sunset Country Club.

By LESLIE CANTU
Item Staff Writer
lesliec@theitem.com

South Carolina's new U.S. attorney has set five goals for his office, in addition to the mandates of President Bush. The state's top federal prosecutor shared those priorities Thursday with the Sumter-Palmetto Rotary Club.

Reggie Lloyd, a Camden native, was sworn in just more than two months ago. When he became U.S. attorney, he said, he realized the office lacked a clear set of priorities. He determined to visit as many of the federal, state and local agencies as possible to share ideas and figure out how best to work together.

"It was my goal and objective to get to every community I could," he said.

In addition to government agencies, he said, he's attempting to visit community groups like Rotary to find out firsthand the concerns of residents.

Lloyd said his office has a moral obligation to be constantly concerned with protecting the public. People shouldn't have to worry about walking or driving through certain areas of town, he said, or wonder about what offenders are up to in the middle of the night, and he expects his staff to do everything possible to fight such problems.

"If we are not doing that every day, I take it as a personal failure," he said.

Lloyd's goals include national mandates as well as more localized concerns.

"Obviously, as a presidential appointee, our first objective and goal is to enforce and administer the priorities set by President Bush," he said.

One of those key objectives is fighting terrorism. South Carolina is actually ahead of the pack when it comes to port security, he said. A pilot program called Project Seahawk at the Port of Charleston brings together agencies at all levels to work together to determine where ships are coming from, who and what is on them, and who's hanging around the ports, among other items, to prevent attacks.

"South Carolina is sort of an incubator, an experimental station so to speak, in port security," he said.

Lloyd's five priorities for the office are based on the state's cultural and geographical footing.

The first is combating violent crime, including guns, gangs and drugs. Guns used in violent crimes in New York and New Jersey are often purchased in South Carolina, he said.

A straw buyer, often a young person with a clean record who needs some extra cash, will buy weapons in exchange for a payment. The guns then end up in the Northeast, where there are more restrictions on such purchases, and traded for either cash or drugs, which end up back in South Carolina, Lloyd said.

Lloyd's office has started a public service campaign urging people not to buy weapons for others, he said, to let people know that law enforcement is watching.

"You can get 10 years for being a straw purchaser," Lloyd said.

His office is also monitoring the situation with the MS-13 gang, he said, as well as cracking down on those on probation or parole.

His second goal, he said, is combating the abuse and sexual exploitation of women and children, which he termed "morally reprehensible."

South Carolina is consistently at the top of the rankings for domestic abuse and deaths from domestic abuse, he said.

Although the state generally prosecutes criminal domestic abuse, Lloyd said his federal office can aid state Attorney General Henry McMaster by prosecuting convicted abusers for weapons possession.

Under federal law, convicted abusers who possess weapons could earn 10 years in federal prison, he said. Because domestic violence can be a difficult crime to successfully prosecute, especially if the victim refuses to cooperate, prosecuting abusers on related charges is a more promising strategy, he said.

When abusers have guns, Lloyd said, "by and large they will use them at some point," either to intimidate or to actually shoot the abused.

"I've just said we'll prosecute every one of them if we have to," he said.

The third goal, under the broad heading of civil rights, includes fighting human trafficking, which is emerging as a problem in South Carolina, he said.

Fourth, the office will combat white collar crime as vigorously as any other type of crime, he said.

Lastly, Lloyd said he set a goal of community outreach for his office.

"We're going to be out in front of groups like yours," he said.