Lott to command S.C.’s state defense force

Nationally acclaimed sheriff will become head of the South Carolina State Guard

Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott will assume command of the historic S.C. State Guard (SCSG), Dec. 1, 2018.

Lott, who currently serves as deputy commander SCSG (holding the rank of brigadier general) will become commander as Maj. Gen. Tom Mullikin – an attorney, global expedition leader, and former Army officer – retires next month.

Having served in varying leadership and command capacities in both the S.C. Military Department’s Joint Services Detachment (JSD) and SCSG, Lott is a 43-year career law enforcement (LE) officer who has served as sheriff of Richland County for more than 20 years.

Since becoming a Richland County Sheriff’s Dept. (RCSD) patrol officer in 1975, Lott has held a variety of LE posts including that of a sniper-tactical operator on the RCSD SWAT Team (Special Weapons and Tactics Team, one of RCSD’s predecessor tactical teams to today’s Special Response Team), a criminal investigator, a narcotics agent, a Narcotics Division lieutenant and captain, an administrative captain, a uniform patrol captain, and watch commander. In 1993, Lott became Chief of Police of St. Matthews. Three years later, in 1996, he was elected Sheriff of Richland County; a position he continues to hold having won multiple elections since.

Recognized in a recent issue of COLUMBIA LIVING magazine as “one of the most creatively innovative, bridge-building law enforcement leaders in the nation, even internationally,” Lott has transformed the 900-plus-employee RCSD into a department geared heavily toward community-oriented policing with the county’s citizens being directly involved in all new deputy hires and with a strong voice as to what RCSD efforts and initiatives need-to-be going forward.

Lott’s RCSD is the only one of the six regularly featured LE agencies on A&E’s hit television series LIVE PD which has been with the program since it first aired in Oct. 2016. RCSD is the first LE agency in the nation to establish a pre-PTSI (post-traumatic stress injury also known as PTSD) conditioning program for deputies and other officers. And his RCSD has been dubbed “America’s Law Enforcement Agency” by numerous publications.

In 2010, Lott traveled to Erbil, Iraq – on the invitation of the Iraqi government – to help that country stand-up its first-ever female police academy. RCSD continues its strong relationship and an officer exchange program with Iraq, as it does with other foreign LE agencies, worldwide.

It was during his time as sheriff that Lott was commissioned into the S.C. Military Dept., serving both as provost marshal in JSD and in SCSG. In SCSG, he has held the posts of commander of the SCSG’s provost marshal’s detachment, deputy commander for SCSG special operations, and deputy commander SCSG.

In June 2018, Lott was one of four honorees inducted into the Fort Jackson Hall of Fame. Lott serves as president of the Association of the United States Army – Palmetto State Chapter. He serves on boards of the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve, the S.C. Combat Veterans Group, the Retired Military Police Association, and many others. He is an Honorary Green Beret, Special Forces Association – S.C. Chapter.

Lott is the recipient of numerous awards, decorations, and honors, including the Order of the Palmetto, the state’s highest award. He holds myriad degrees, including a BA and an MA from USC-Columbia (he played baseball at USC-Aiken where he earned an associate’s degree) and an MA from Lander Univ. He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy, the FBI National Executive Institute, Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, and Furman University’s S.C. Diversity Leadership Academy.

Sheriff (Brig. Gen.) Lott is married with four children and three grandchildren.

Established as the Provincial Militia in 1670, the all-volunteer SCSG is a U.S. Code Title 32 component organization of the S.C. Military Department, which includes the S.C. Army National Guard (also sharing the lineage of the Provincial Militia), the S.C. Air National Guard, the state’s Emergency Management Division and SCSG among other elements. The SCSG’s current personnel numbers are just under 1,000 Guardsmen, including retired and former U.S. Army Special Forces operators, Rangers, U.S. Marine infantrymen and current and former law enforcement officers among others.

The change-of-command ceremony is slated to be held at the South Carolina State House in Columbia, Dec. 1.