Veteran police lieutenant has sailed uncharted waters in life and career

When off-duty from his job as a Charleston police lieutenant, you’re likely to find him scuba diving off the coast or surfing at Folly Beach.

The ocean is Hill’s refuge, a place where he finds supreme serenity. But it also offers great challenges and life lessons that have served him well during his 28-year law enforcement career.

"There’s nothing that I believe in more deeply and feel more comfortable with than being on the deck of a boat 30 miles offshore and being able to read signs that Mother Nature is offering up about the weather to let me know if is it safe to dive now or should I turn and go home, if the weather’s going to be suitable for diving conditions," said Hill, "Or dealing with a tiger shark at 85 feet, looking at this majestic animal underwater, knowing that this is the last time I breathe if I do something wrong. It’s challenging, but I always try to meet those challenges with a safety net. I’m not foolhardy."

There are strong parallels between surviving on the ocean and working in law enforcement, according to Hill, who became Team 10’s commander on Daniel Island this month. Danger and a need for vigilance are ever-present.

"Police work is like being a diver: you plan your dive and dive your plan," Hill said. "It’s critical for your safety and it’s also critical for this job."

It’s a job that Hill has excelled at since entering the profession in 1976. Starting as a patrol officer, he advanced through department ranks and has broad experience in supervision and crime investigation.

"I think the only things I haven’t done is to be assigned to mounted horse patrol and K-9 dog handler," he said.

Hill also served seven years as a special agent for SLED, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, where he conducted numerous undercover narcotics investigations and other duties. In addition, he received executive-level training at the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) National Academy.

It has been quite a journey for someone who had no strong interest in becoming a cop as a youngster.

"A lot of people in law enforcement know they want to go into it at an early age," Hill said. "I came up in the late ‘60s in downtown Charleston and, quite frankly, it wasn’t popular for a black male to want to be a police officer and I wasn’t any different than anyone else. My interest was in oceanography. I became a certified scuba diver in ’72 and, when I went to college, that’s where I felt I was headed. But then I ran into chemistry and chemistry and I weren’t very fond of one another."

Consequently, Hill began studying political science at College of Charleston while competing on the swimming team. He also worked as a managerial analyst at the Naval shipyard through a college work-study co-op program.

"I thought it was a fascinating and challenging job, but also very restrictive," Hill recalled. "And I felt this energy inside that had to be directed externally, so I began thinking about a career as an attorney."

This newfound interest led him to the Charleston Police Department where he helped devise training procedures as a student trainee.

"I thought, gee, if I want to be a successful attorney, maybe getting into law enforcement would give me a good birds-eye view about how police officers thought about situations and it would help me in my legal career," he said. "So I joined the Police Reserve, thinking that it would give me the exposure I was looking for. Of course, that didn’t last very long, only a few months. I left school and joined the police department full time in late ’76."

This decision mortified his parents, who envisioned a different future for him. Hill had been encouraged in high school by U.S. senators Ernest Hollings and Strom Thurmond to apply to the U.S. Naval Academy, but turned it down. He then opted to enroll at the College of Charleston while his parents wanted him to attend The Citadel.

Hill’s clashes with his father were particularly contentious at that time.

"I was the only son, and he thought I was going to get killed as a police officer," Hill said. "I was making $7,000 year on this job as a patrolman and was offered a job on the waterfront at $21,000 as checker. I declined it. My father wouldn’t speak to me for a month."

Hill speaks wistfully about his father today. The youthful conflicts are long gone, replaced by a profound respect and love. David S. Hill, who died at age 96 in 1998, was the quintessential self-made man, his son said.

"He grew up in a little town called Lincolnville and didn’t have the opportunity to go to school like his brothers and sisters did because he took care of them," Hill said. "He was all about work, work, work. He had a really strong work ethic."

David Hill became a well-known community figure and was a Charleston City Council member in the early 1970s. In addition, he worked 32 years as a woodworker at the Naval Shipyard and also operated a liquor store on Spring Street.

"He was this little, bald, brown-skinned fellow who people called ‘Little Brown Jug’ and I had the highest admiration for him. I didn’t as a child, but certainly did as an adult," Hill said. "He set the standard for me and my life has been patterned after his. He had so much to offer, but was limited by the times. He was black, and when he tested best for foreman at the shipyard, he was told he was the wrong color. I’ve always thought there’s something wrong with a society that judged a person not by their capabilities but by the color of their skin. It didn’t stop me."

Hill’s speech is precise and measured and his nimble mind and analytical nature could serve him well as an attorney or politician. This sometimes confounds people who expect a different demeanor from an African-American raised on the streets of Charleston.

"People will sometimes ask me, ‘Where you from? You don’t speak like a Charlestonian,’" he said. "I know what they’re really saying. Am I supposed to say "skreet" and "fawfty-five? What am I supposed to sound like? In my family, I got slapped in the face if I didn’t pronounce and enunciate like I was supposed to do. I had an aunt who taught Spanish and French, who studied in France. It just wasn’t permitted in my house."

Hill has defied racial stereotypes throughout his life and followed his own muse. For example, his interest in water sports led him to take up surfing when he was a junior in high school.

"My father didn’t want me to surf, because there were no other blacks surfing," he said. "But I didn’t do it because of the color thing. I did it because I enjoyed it. It was challenging and I still surf today."

In fact, Hill was planning to go to the beach last weekend. Despite his busy schedule, [He’s also president of the Charleston Kiwanis Club and a 25-year member of the Coast Guard Reserve.] He treasures spending time with his family, which includes his wife, Rosa, son, Jonathan, and daughter, Brittany.

"I’ll be out at Folly Beach on Christmas Day with my 16-year-old daughter, with my wetsuit on, surfing," he said. "Why? Because it’s important to my daughter and it will be a memory she can hold close to her long after I’ve gone, a memory that I took the time to spend some time with her. That’s important."

And, it’s on the water.

Lt. Harold Hill is Team 10’s new commander