Command Staff

Dale McDorman

Police Chief

Early career

Chief Dale McDorman's prior law enforcement career included being a sheriff's deputy in Stark County, Ohio, and a Beaufort County sheriff's deputy. Chief McDorman was also a security policeman in the U.S. Air Force for eight years. He has a bachelor's degree in criminal justice from Columbia College.

Joining the Beaufort PD

Chief McDorman was hired by the Beaufort Police Department in April 1995. He came to the Beaufort Police Department as a patrolman III and was promoted to sergeant/operations supervisor in October 1999 and to lieutenant/operations in April 2005.

McDorman served as the operations lieutenant and as investigations lieutenant prior to being promoted to deputy police chief in March 2010. In July 2020, he was made interim chief of police in the wake of Chief Matthew Clancy's death. In November 2020, he was named police chief.

Press release on Chief McDorman's appointment

Darrell Gruel

Deputy Chief

Career

Deputy Chief Gruel started with the Beaufort Police Department in 1991 and was awarded the J.P. Strom award for being the top academic graduate of his class at the SCCJA. 

He started in the Uniform Patrol Division and from 1994 to 1997 and was the school resource officer at Beaufort High School. He was also the first school resource officer at Beaufort Middle School prior to returning to the Patrol Division where he was later promoted to operations supervisor.

Deputy Chief Gruel transferred into Investigations in 2005 and was promoted to lieutenant in charge of the Investigations Division in 2010. He was promoted to deputy chief in November 2020 and he now supervises both patrol division and investigations.

Jason Day

Lieutenant/Patrol

Education

Lt. Jason Day moved to Beaufort while serving in the U.S. Marine Corps and later moved into a career in law enforcement. He has a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice.

Career

Lt. Day began his career with the Beaufort Police Department in 2009, with prior law enforcement experience starting in 1997 with Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office and Port Royal Police Department. Lt. Day started as a patrolman, and later was promoted to a patrol supervisor. In 2013 he was promoted to operations master sergeant, and in 2016 he was promoted to lieutenant. Currently, Lt. Day oversees day-to-day operation with patrol officers.

Charles Squires

Lieutenant/Community Programs

Education

Lt. Squires was born near Albany, N.Y., and grew up in the Adirondack Mountains, regularly visiting his grandparents on Fripp Island, S.C. After graduating from high school, Lt. Squires joined the U.S. Navy; some of his duties included shore patrol, which was when he became interested in law enforcement. After being honorably discharged at the end of his enlistment, Lt. Squires began his pursuit of a criminal justice degree at the University of South Carolina Beaufort. He then transferred to the Columbia (University of South Carolina) campus where he graduated with honors and received a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice.

Career

Upon being hired by the Hardeeville Police Department, Lt. Squires attended the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy and received the distinguished graduate award. He worked patrol and was promoted to corporal and then investigator during the three years he was in Hardeeville.

In 1999, Lt. Squires was hired by the Beaufort Police Department as a patrolman III and was promoted to patrol sergeant in 2002. As a patrol sergeant he also focused on the department’s crime watch groups and police boat operations. In 2012, Lt. Squires was promoted to the position of lieutenant.

Richard Poole
Lieutenant/Professional Standards and Recruiting

Career

Lt. Poole is a native of Beaufort, and a second-generation City of Beaufort police officer. He earned the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy’s Distinguished Graduate Award for his high academics while attending. 

He began his career in law enforcement with the Beaufort Police Department in 2007 as a patrolman II.

During Lt. Poole’s time as a patrolman, he was also a patrol K-9 handler for the department, where he worked with K-9 “Hugo." Lt. Poole later became an assistant patrol supervisor before being promoted to first sergeant and the supervisor of Patrol Team 4. Lt. Poole remained a patrol supervisor until promotion to his current position.