Santee Cooper Names Mike Frederick as Chief of Law Enforcement and Security
Staff Report From South Carolina CEO
Monday, July 8th, 2019
Mike O. Frederick Jr., a veteran law enforcement leader at the municipal and state level, has been named Chief of Law Enforcement and Security at Santee Cooper.
Frederick has served as Senior Compliance Specialist since 2012, focusing on counterterrorism and critical infrastructure protection. Projects he has managed include designing and implementing statewide threat assessment procedures, physical security systems at critical Santee Cooper facilities, and federal regulatory compliance.
Prior to Santee Cooper, Frederick served as Chief of Police of the Surfside Beach Police Department, Chief Deputy of the Greenwood County Sheriff’s Office, and Special Operations/Patrol Commander for the Georgetown Police Department, all in South Carolina. He has served as a Counterterrorism Specialist and Intelligence Operative with the U.S. Counterterrorism Task Force in Washington, D.C., and a Military Police Officer with the U.S. Army. Frederick, who has 30 years in law enforcement already, has also served on the adjunct faculty at several colleges, universities and training facilities.
Frederick replaces Rory A. Avant, who retired June 30 after 19 years with Santee Cooper’s Law Enforcement and Security division and another 18 years in municipal law enforcement in Horry County and the City of Myrtle Beach. Avant served as Chief of Law Enforcement and Security since 2016 and was Deputy Chief from 2007-2016. During his tenure at Santee Cooper, his primary achievements included reorganizing the division to address rapidly changing federal regulatory requirements, modernizing the investigative management system and completing the FBI National Academy.