Leon Lott

Leon Lott (born 1953) is the commander of the South Carolina State Guard and the sheriff of Richland County, South Carolina. He is a member of the Democratic Party.

Brigadier General
Leon Lott
Commander of the South Carolina State Guard
Assumed office
December 1, 2018
GovernorHenry McMaster
Preceded byTom Mullikin
Sheriff of Richland County
Assumed office
January 3, 1997
Personal details
Born (1953-10-03) October 3, 1953
Aiken, South Carolina
Political partyDemocratic
EducationUniversity of South Carolina Aiken

University of South Carolina Columbia

Lander University
Military service
Branch/serviceSouth Carolina State Guard
Rank Brigadier General

Early life

Lott was born in Aiken, South Carolina and attended Aiken High School. As a youth, Lott was arrested for throwing eggs at vehicles on Interstate 20. Lott struck the cruiser of the chief investigator for the sheriff’s department. While he and a few others were detained, they were not charged. After graduating high school in 1971, he studied at the University of South Carolina Aiken where he earned an associate degree in police administration. He transferred to University of South Carolina to obtain a Bachelor of Science degree in sociology followed by a master's degree in criminal justice. Later, he earned a master's in emergency management from Lander University.[1]

Career

Lott became a patrol officer for Richland County, South Carolina in 1975. He later served as a narcotic agent, a lieutenant, a captain, and a watch commander. In 1993, Lott was appointed as the police chief of St. Matthews, South Carolina, a small town in Calhoun County.[1] In 1996, Lott campaigned to be sheriff of Richland County as a Democrat, winning the election that November.[2][3]

Sheriff

As sheriff, Lott oversees the Richland County Sheriff's Department. As of the 2020 census, the population of Richland County, South Carolina was 416,147[4] and is the second-largest county in the state. Lott oversees approximately 1,000 department employees.[5] In 2010, he traveled to the Kurdistan region of Iraq and assisted in the establishment of the first Iraqi female police academy.[1]

In 2016, Lott permitted the A&E network to feature Richland County deputies in the television show Live PD. The show aired through 2020 until it was cancelled amid protests and riots following the murder of George Floyd by a Minnesota police officer. In 2021, Lott stated Richland County would eventually return live to a show by a different name.[6]

In September 2016, Lott fired a deputy that gained national attention for flipping an African American female student onto the floor at Spring Valley High School. Lott mentioned the incident made him want to "throw up"; he terminated the officer and called the FBI and Justice Department to investigate, though the officer was not charged.[7]

In 2019, a school resource officer in Richland County School District Two was publicly accused of inappropriate sexual conduct toward a teenage female. Lott fired and arrested the deputy, Jamel Bradley, and stated, "[Bradley is] a monster that worked among us that we did not know about." But Lott drew criticism from the public when it was revealed that Bradley had more than five reports alleging predatory behavior around minors, but the department had dismissed the claims.[8]

In 2021, Jonathan Pentland, a white drill sergeant at Fort Jackson, was filmed assaulting a black man in Columbia. Lott arrested the soldier and charged him with assault and battery. But Lott initially stated that Pentland may have himself been the victim because the unidentified black man had been vaguely accused of other assaults. Later, the department shifted and said that Pentland was the aggressor. The Post and Courier accused Lott of "victim blaming."[9][8]

In 2021, Lott was named national Sheriff of the Year by the National Sheriffs' Association,[5] the first person from South Carolina to ever receive the awards.[10]

Lott ranked Number 3 in the Post and Courier Columbia Power List 2023.[11]

South Carolina State Guard
Lott (right) at SC State Guard Training

.

On December 1, 2018, Lott was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General and took over command of the South Carolina State Guard.[12] The S.C. State Guard serves with the S.C. Army National Guard, the S.C. Air National Guard, and the S.C. Emergency Management Division.[1][3]

Personal life

Lott is married with four children and four grandchildren. He identifies as Christian.[1]

References
  1. Smith, Thomas. "The Sheriff's in Town Leon Lott on the national stage". The Columbia Metro. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
  2. Wilson, Curtis (6 January 2017). "Sheriff Leon Lott celebrates 20 years as Sheriff of Richland County". The Columbia Star. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
  3. "Brigadier General Leon L. Lott". sg.sc.gov. State of South Carolina. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
  4. "U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: Richland County, South Carolina". www.census.gov. Retrieved 2022-06-11.
  5. "Sheriff of the Year". National Sheriff Association. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
  6. "Richland County Sheriff's Department will go 'On Patrol: Live'". WLTX. July 2022. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
  7. "Deputy Who Tossed a S.C. High School Student Won't Be Charged". The New York Times. 3 September 2016.
  8. Matney, Mandy (28 April 2021). "SC 'Sheriff Of The Year' Questioned For His Bungled Response To Viral Video Incident In Columbia". FITS News. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
  9. Cranney, Joseph. "How police changed its narrative about Black man shoved by soldier in Columbia". The Post and Courier. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
  10. "Richland County's Leon Lott gets National Sheriff of the Year Award". WLTX. 2021.
  11. Power List 2023: USC still dominant in Columbia". The Post and Courier. August 2, 2023. Retrieved August 22, 2023.
  12. Smith, Thomas. "S.C. sheriff assumes command of State Guard". Police1. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
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