Cayce, SC (Paul Kirby) – Last week, the Cayce Department of Public Safety recognized another of its public servants whose public safety career was drawing to a close. According to the department, Investigator Findlay Wihlidal committed his entire career to the field of public service. Investigator Wihlidal worked tirelessly serving the citizens of the City of Cayce for 15 years.
The department went on to say that “Findlay” was born in Canada. During his early life, he served as a social worker for nearly 10 years. He later became a certified police officer in his native country of Canada.
In 2002, Findlay moved to the United States to help his brother run a business and soon realized that he still had that itch to serve his community. In 2002, Findlay became a certified EMT with Lexington County EMS. In 2005 he joined the staff at the Cayce Department of Public Safety where he worked his way up through the ranks. Leaders with the Cayce DPS recently said that Findlay’s positive attitude blended into their department and community perfectly and he has been a staple there ever since.
Findlay served the citizens of Cayce in many different roles. In 2009, he served in their first “COPS” program after the department received federal grant funds to encourage community policing. He also served as a field training officer,assistant shift supervisor, school resource officer at Cyril B. Busbee Creative Arts Academy, and most recently as an investigator.
Findlay also served in a dual role as a firefighter. This is training he received early on in his career at Cayce DPS. Cayce is a Department of Public Safety. In these, police officers serve a dual role as firefighters reinforcing the small crews of firefighters that are assigned permanently to the firehouse. When a fire call comes in, some of their police officers rush to the scene, don their firefighting gear and become firefighters.
Findlay said recently he just adopted a female German Shepard puppy named "Angel." During his retirement, the pair plan on hiking the Appalachian Trail after he gets settled into the "Retired Life."
In a statement on their social media pages, the Cayce Department of Public Safety said that they and the Cayce community will definitely miss Findlay Wihlidal being around and helping them serve efficiently. They closed by saying they want to thank Findlay for devoting the better part of his life to serving others.
