LEXINGTON, S.C. – At 19 years old, Lexington County Deputy Kalie Natale moved away from her hometown in Ohio to chase her dreams, wanting to be a part of something bigger than herself.
Natale started her law enforcement career when she enlisted in the National Guard as a military police soldier. A friend introduced her to the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department when she moved to South Carolina. Since then, she has felt right at home.
This transition was easy for Natale due to the bonds she created with her night shift co-workers, or family as she calls them.
“We’re here more than we are home, so it’s really easy to make friends and just make your own family here,” Natale said. “I feel more at home here than I do at my house.”
Natale also had role models to look up to, such as K-9 Deputy Candi Shealy.
“I used to work out with her at the gym sometimes,” Natale said. “She is just superwoman.”
Natale is also a full-time student, studying criminal justice online at South University.
“It’s tough,” Natale said. “It requires a lot of late nights, a lot of early mornings, but it’s going to be worth it, especially when I try to go for a promotion.”
In her time at the Sheriff’s Department, Natale said she has become a more patient person with a sterner voice, which helps her serve the community better overall. And serving that community never includes a dull moment.
In one particular call, Natale had to go to Swansea in the middle of the night to lasso a cow. However, there was no rope involved, at least before a neighbor provided her with one.
“I guess I’m just not prepared to wrangle cows every day, but I ended up taking some crime scene tape and making it into a lasso and trying to get the cow,” Natale said. “Thankfully, there was a neighbor across the street who let me use some of her rope, and she let us put him back in the yard.”
Natale hopes her degree and her experiences, though sometimes wild, will help her move up to the Major Crimes Unit.
“We provide in-house trainings,” Natale said. “I could apply to go to a training in Myrtle Beach or even another state that they’ll send us to. And also, the ride-along programs (with other Sheriff’s Department units). I can do those on my days off. Any of those opportunities will set me up for success.