South Carolina Public Safety director Mark Keel says seven officers have been suspended for working while their driver’s licenses were suspended. The State reported the agency investigated after the newspaper filed a Freedom of Information Act request for the driving records for Senior Trooper John McGaha and reported his license had been suspended.

The Director of the South Carolina Department of Public Safety says if a 27 percent budget cut happens, as Senate budget writers are now considering, the state would lose nearly 300 troopers. The state has 870 troopers currently. WJBF News Channel 6’s SC Capitol reporter, Robert Kittle, has more.

South Carolina has the second highest rate of people killed in alcohol-related crashes in the nation. WJBF News Channel 6’s Capitol reporter, Robert Kittle, tells us about a new law that police and prosecutors hope will lower that number.

According to a release from the South Carolina Department of Public Safety, the state’s new DUI laws go into effect on February 10th

Employees with the South Carolina Department of Public Safety are being asked to take incentive packages…and go find new jobs. They can either take the Retirement Incentive Plan (RIP) or the Voluntary Separation Program (VSP). This includes troopers with the Highway Patrol, and already some in our area are taking the department up on the offer. WJBF News Channel 6’s Joy Howe has the story.

SCDPS, local agencies kick off Christmas/New Year’s DUI campaigns. The South Carolina Department of Public Safety (SCDPS) and local law enforcement agencies statewide announced plans Thursday to combine efforts to combat impaired driving during the Sober or Slammer! Christmas/New Year’s DUI crackdown, from December 12 to January 1.

State budget cuts that have already occurred and future cuts next year could start affecting your safety on South Carolina’s roads and highways. The Highway Patrol graduated 36 new state troopers Friday, but a smaller class that was supposed to start training in January has been canceled and Public Safety director Mark Keel says he does not expect there to be any new troopers hired next year because of the budget cuts. WJBF News Channel 6’s Capitol reporter, Robert Kittle, has more.

The South Carolina Department of Public Safety announces a preliminary number of 14 people being killed on South Carolina highways during the 106-hour Thanksgiving holiday. The time frame ran from Wednesday, November 26, at 6 p.m. until Sunday, November 30, at midnight.

The leader of the South Carolina Highway Patrol says dealing with budget cuts have kept him from hiring a new commander for the force. Spokesman Sid Gaulden told The Greenville News that Public Safety Department Director Mark Keel has received at least a half-dozen applications for the job, some from within the patrol.

Traffic deaths are down nearly 17 percent so far this year in South Carolina.

Lower gas prices expected to make Thanksgiving travel busy in South Carolina.