Eliopoulos to head West Pelzer police department

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By Stan Welch
Poised to become Anderson County’s first female police chief, West Pelzer Police Lt. Alexis Eliopoulos has spent twelve years preparing for the opportunity. Born in South Florida, she made her way to Georgia where she attended college.
She began her law enforcement career as a dispatcher in 2007, but within months had completed her police training and had become a patrol officer for the City of Anderson.
During her six years with the city force, she served on two tasks forces – the DUI task force and the Street Crime task force. She received the DUI Enforcement Hero Award in 2009, 2010 and 2011.  She also received the Top Cop Award from the S.C. Police Chiefs Association in 2010.
She credits her training with the Anderson department with making her the law enforcement officer she has become. She was promoted to the rank of Corporal in 2012 and a year later, joined the Williamston Department. After six months, she accepted the rank of Sergeant with the City of Clemson police department, where she spent four years.
“My time at Clemson really changed the direction of my career, because it gave me supervisory opportunities, as well as a more varied experience in a college town. The population was very diverse,”
Eliopoulos said.
In 2017, she was hired by West Pelzer with the rank of lieutenant, where she performed a variety of duties, including patrol and administrative , as well as serving as the department’s training officer. When current Chief Chris Brewer decided to pursue the medical side of his versatile public service career ( he served both Anderson and Greenville counties as a paramedic) by working in the cardiovascular department at AnMed, his choice of a successor was an easy one.
Eliopoulos says she has always had the desire to work in law enforcement. “Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve always seen myself in a police uniform. I appreciate the opportunity and look forward to leading the strong department that Chief Brewer and the administration have put together in West Pelzer.” She will assume control of the department on July 1 of this year.