Springdale moves quickly to fill open police chief’s position by promoting from within

Springdale, SC (Paul Kirby) – The Town of Springdale moved quickly last week to fill their police chief job after current Chief of Police Kevin Cornett recently gave his notice. Town Administrator Ashley Watkins promoted the current lieutenant over Springdale’s Investigative Division Andrew “Bear” Richbourg to fill the chief’s position. Richbourg will take over the department on May 24th when Cornett leaves to become the chief of the Isle of Palms Police Department near Charleston.

Richbourg has been with the Springdale’s Police Department since 2017. Before coming to Springdale, he worked at the City of Columbia. There he worked in Major Crimes. Richbourg has already earned the respect of Springdale’s Police Department having been recognized several times for his work and lifesaving actions while serving the town. Before coming to the small town near the Columbia Airport, Chief Richbourg was highly decorated at the CPD, having won the department’s Police Shield and Officer of the Year awards.

Chief Richbourg has a Master of Criminal Justice Degree from Columbia College and is a graduate of the FBI’s Carolina Command College. He also has completed the FBI Child Abduction Training course and the FBI’s Digital Imaging & Video Recovery Team Training.

Richbourg graduated from Airport High School in Cayce, the city that abuts Springdale to the west. He and his wife Julie live in Lexington County with their three children.