Richland County Sheriff's Department

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Richland County Sheriff's Department
Established	1787
Jurisdiction	County
Sworn	550
Non-sworn	140
Sheriff	Leon Lott

The Richland County Sheriff's Department (RCSD) is the agency charged with the law enforcement for the unincorporated area's of Richland County, South Carolina, USA. The agency is led by Sheriff Leon Lott (1997-present) and employs 550 sworn deputies^[1].

[edit] History

The Richland County Sheriff's Department was formed in 1787, two years after Richland County's formation^[2]. The first sheriff was Joel McLemore, and he had only one deputy. The RCSD slowly grew to several deputies providing law enforcement services to the county. However, because of the jurisdictional conflict between the local rural police and constables, South Carolina and Richland County prior to 1861 were a lawless domain. The Richland County Sheriff's Department was the first U.S. law enforcement agency to use the FN P90 submachine gun.