Why would someone return to the same high-pressure job after retiring? For Phil Riley, it was his passion for highway safety and contributing to the greater good.
“People in the highway safety arena aren’t in it to get rich. They’re in it to make a difference,” said Riley, Director of the Office of Highway Safety and Justice Programs. “I know we’re saving lives at DPS, whether you’re a commissioned officer on the front lines or back at headquarters in an administrative role. That’s very rewarding.”
Born in Sumter and raised in Cayce, Riley‘s path to the SC Department of Public Safety began at a Revco drugstore, where he worked as a teenager in 1981. His coworker, John Branham, applied for the SC Highway Patrol, and their friendship and conversations about the agency sparked Riley’s own interest in becoming a state trooper. After Branham became a trooper, he took Riley on a couple of ride-alongs, and that solidified his decision to also join the Patrol. Riley applied and began Patrol School in the fall of 1985.
Looking back on his time as a trooper, Riley noted some of the major changes to the Patrol through the years.
“Back in the late 80s, you didn’t have a radio on your shoulder. There were no department-issued bulletproof vests, body-worn cameras, Tasers, or pepper spray,” Riley said. “We carried revolvers back then, not semi-automatics. If you ran into a bad situation with a violator and needed assistance, you had to make it back to your car to call for backup. You really had to rely on your physical conditioning, defensive tactics training, and the ability to de-escalate a situation.”
One of the most revolutionary changes was the agency’s shift to data-driven enforcement in recent years, Riley said. This allows supervisors to better allocate and maximize resources.
“Back then, the trooper pretty much decided where to focus his enforcement, and crash statistics weren’t a big part of the equation,” Riley said. “We were writing a lot of tickets, but I’m not sure we were focusing as much as we could have on crash and fatality reduction. Nowadays, it’s more strategic and prescriptive. Troopers have electronic maps at their fingertips and concentrate on high-crash corridor locations, which greatly reduces the number of collisions and fatalities.”
In November 1989, Riley left the Highway Patrol to pursue a bachelor’s degree at USC. While in college, he worked at the Babcock Center. It was there he met Joe Gaines, a retired SCHP lieutenant who later encouraged Riley to apply for an opening at the newly created Department of Public Safety. In 1993, Riley was hired as one of three “law enforcement spokespersons” within the agency’s safety office. In this position, Riley visited law enforcement agencies in 14 counties to garner support for a statewide campaign to increase seat belt usage. He eventually climbed the ladder to become director of the Office of Highway Safety in 2008, which became the Office of Highway Safety and Justice Programs (OHSJP) in 2012.
In January 2019, Riley retired from state government, focusing his attention on running a small business, but still working with DPS part-time on special projects. However, his retirement was short-lived, and within two years, he returned to OHSJP as its director once again for what Riley calls his “second term.”
“I’m goal-driven. I like a challenge, and this is a very challenging position,” Riley said. “It almost becomes an addiction. Send us the work, and we’ll find a way to get it done. Is it hectic and stressful? Yes, but I wouldn’t know how to act otherwise because I love what I do.”
Riley expressed his gratitude for those who helped lay the foundation at OHSJP, including those who have since retired or passed away. Specifically, Riley mentioned Max Young, the previous Highway Safety Director who served in that capacity for 20 years, and Dr. Ed Harmon, who served as the assistant director of OHSJP for nine years until his death in 2017. Both were close friends and mentors to Riley during his career.
Referring to Harmon, Riley said, “If I was Captain Kirk, he was Spock,” jokingly referring to the beloved “Star Trek” characters. “Ed was a walking encyclopedia. He could retain everything he heard, read, or saw. He was always the smartest guy in the room, but you’d never know it by his demeanor because Ed was very humble and modest. Everybody respected him.”
Riley also commends his current team of seasoned coworkers for helping him run the office with an unprecedented level of dedication and expertise. “I’m truly blessed to have such a talented and passionate team of professionals working at OHSJP,” Riley said. “My staff are all top-notch and deserve full credit for our success. They take a lot of stress off of me.”
“What we do saves lives, even if we don’t always know who, when, or where,” Riley said. “When I get to heaven someday, maybe I’ll run into some of the people whose lives our agency was able to impact in a positive manner along the way. I think that would be pretty cool.”
