Byron Snellgrove

Chief Byron Snellgrove is a veteran First Responder working both in the Fire Service and Law Enforcement. His career spanned 38 years when he retired as the last Director of Public Safety (Police and Fire Chief) at the City of Cayce SC in December 2021. One of his last duties as Director was to split the Public Safety Department into separate Police and Fire Departments. Early in his career, Byron’s passion was always Special Operations: Narcotics, Tactics, HAZMAT, Search and Rescue. Later in his career he focused on Leadership and Command. He is a certified Fire Instructor, Law Enforcement Instructor, NRA and Terrorism Instructor. He has been assigned to work with ATF, DEA and US Marshals Task Forces. During his career he has attended numerous Command Level Training courses, including the Narcotic Commanders School and FBI Command College. Additionally, he is the recipient of the Jefferson Award, The ICON Award, Resolutions of Achievement from both the SC House and Senate and was recently honored by Governor Henry McMaster with the Order of the Palmetto, the State’s highest civilian award. He has been personally involved in numerous high-profile events and cases over the years. These include Hurricane Hugo in SC and Andrew in FL, the 2005 Graniteville train crash, the 2018 Amtrak train crash, officer involved shootings, homicides, and a 2020 child abduction/murder. Chief Snellgrove currently speaks at numerous venues around the country on Leadership, Crisis Management, Officer Safety, Mental Health and Wellness and First Responder Assistance Programs. Chief uses his personal experiences in Public Safety as examples for these programs. He also consults on major cases and security threat assessments. Byron and his wife, Nancy, live in rural SC and have five children and two grandchildren.