Making a difference is what Lake View’s new police chief, Harry C. “Charlie” Watson, strives to do each day.

Watson has been serving as chief in Lake View since September 24, 2018, and he loves the community.
“It is a blessing for me to be the Chief of Police in Lake View,” Watson said. “I have some wonderful family and friends who live there, and I fell in love with the community long before I got the job.”
“I realized early how special Lake View is, the best kept secret in the world, where everyone for the most part is friendly and unlike anything I have ever seen,” Watson said. “It has quickly become the community that my wife and I chose to help rear and educate our son. Lake View is our family.”
The people of Lake View can expect fairness and impartiality from Chief Watson.
“I believe in being fair and impartial to all people just as I made in my mission statement to the citizens of Lake View,” said Watson
“I enjoy helping people and being there when they have a problem, even if it’s not officially a police-related problem. I know how lost it feels when you don’t know what to do about something, don’t know which way to turn. I am there to make sure I lend a helping hand if I can when someone is in need,” be said.
Struck by tragedy when his own mother was murdered, Watson has a unique understanding of what it really means to be a survivor of a horrific crime.
“In July 1996, my mother Brenda Jo Hayes Watson was murdered in her home in the Floyd Dale community of Dillon County,” Watson recalls.
“The tragedy broke this young man’s heart, but motivated me to try to make a difference rather than sit back and criticize law enforcement,” he said.
“This enabled me later in my career to say to victims, ‘I know how you feel,’ because I could really relate and share my story with people which in return provided them with someone who could in fact relate to their tragedy,” Watson said.
Watson said he cannot single out one mentor who influenced him in his career in law enforcement, but has instead been influenced by many he has worked with over the years.
“In almost 23 years total of experience, I have had the privilege of working with some of the greatest men and women in law enforcement I believe,” said Watson.
“I learned that one person doesn’t know everything and that each and every person is unique and brings something special to the table,” he said.
“For me to single out one particular person as a mentor is unfair because I learned a lot from most of the people I worked with, people I consider as my family today,” he said.
“As far as the person (s) who molded me in my ways and work ethic, that was my mother, Brenda Watson, and my grandmother, Mary K. Hayes. They molded my work ethic which seemed to be a strong family trait of working hard and doing the best job possible. They also instilled in me the love and respect of my neighbor, regardless we are all God’s children.”
Watson is proud of his fellow law enforcement officers across the nation. Watson said, “I am proud of the men and women of law enforcement whom make relentless sacrifices under the worst scrutiny ever just to protect and serve all across this nation. Unless you are an officer, married to one, family to one or best friends to one, you will never know the depth perception of the sacrifices made to protect and serve a nation like we have.”
One thing Watson really enjoys about being a police officer is working with youth.
“I love being a role model for our children. Investing and taking time with our youth, convincing the ones who feel alone and has no one to remind them of their worth that someone does care, that does appreciate the good job they do. It’s our job as a community to lift these children up and build their confidence because they are tomorrow’s leaders. It takes a village to raise a child,” Watson said.
Watson was born and reared in Dillon and graduated from Dillon High School in 1990. He graduated from the S.C. Criminal Justice Academy in 1997. He is married to Lindsay Sanders Watson, who is a hard-working business owner. He has three beautiful children and two pit-bulls as their pet babies. He and his family attend East Marion Pentecostal Holiness Church in Marion, and he and his wife are the church’s youth pastors. In his very limited spare time, he enjoys working out and spending time with his family. He says he is a homebody and loves the mountains.