The Leadership Series – Leon Lott, Richland County Sheriff’s Department

The Who’s on the Move Leadership Series highlights people leading extraordinary change in South Carolina. We will be focusing on the journeys of 12 top leaders per year from across the state with a short video as well as a full audio version of the conversation. The interview will also be available on Apple and Spotify. Just search for the Who’sOnTheMove SC podcast.

You will see a diverse group of leaders in this series, men and women, white and non white, old and young – entrepreneurs, leaders of academics institutions, executive directors of non profits, and others. 

Leon Lott, Sheriff, Richland County Sheriff’s Department

Built on a sterling law-enforcement tradition spanning more than 200 years, the Richland County Sheriff’s Department (RCSD) currently employs over 700 uniformed officers and 140 non-sworn personnel, making it one of the largest law enforcement agencies in South Carolina and a model LE agency, nationwide: Respected around the world for its efficiency and strong culture of community outreach.

Encompassing eight jurisdictional regions and with aviation, waterborne, and ground patrol and special operations capabilities, RCSD serves a county covering 756 square miles with a culturally, ethnically, and economically diverse population of over 414,000 citizens making Richland County the second most-populous county in South Carolina.

Sheriff Leon Lott was first elected sheriff of Richland County over 25 years ago. A recipient of the Order of the Palmetto, the state’s highest award presented by the governor of South Carolina in 2007, Lott is the 2021 National Sheriff of Year and the 2021 South Carolina Sheriff of the Year. The S.C. Sheriff of the Year award was presented by Gov. Henry McMaster and it marked the second time Lott received state Sheriff of the Year honors. Also in 2021, Lott received jointly with his department, the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve Extraordinary Employer Support Award from the U.S. Department of Defense.

In his own words, the keys to success for the department are “community relations and community outreach.”

Below is an audio version of our full conversation with Sheriff Leon Lott of the Richland County Sheriff’s Department. You can also listen to this podcast on Apple and Spotify. Just search for the Who’sOnTheMove SC podcast and please consider subscribing.