LEXINGTON, S.C. – A former administrative employee of the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department has been charged with obtaining goods under false pretenses, according to the State Law Enforcement Division (SLED). Shekinah Shyann Sade Brown, 24, was arrested after turning herself in at the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department headquarters on TuesdayContinue Reading
Robert Allen Gaffney, a 38-year-old man from Lexington County, has been convicted of Attempted Murder following a plea entered March 13. The Honorable Walton J. McLeod IV sentenced Gaffney to 25 years in prison. Under South Carolina law, the Attempted Murder charge is classified as a violent crime and isContinue Reading
COLUMBIA, S.C. – Strength, teamwork, and community spirit were on full display on March 22 as 32 teams took on the challenge of pulling a fire truck down Hampton Street—all for a great cause. The 12th annual Fire Truck Pull, a beloved community tradition, raised an impressive $64,000 to benefitContinue Reading
Special medical training for Richland County deputies puts them in a class of their own By W. Thomas Smith Jr. Following months of intensive training in emergency medical care and now Advanced Life Support (ALS) licensing, the Richland County Sheriff’s Department (RCSD) has achieved a level of departmental emergency medicalContinue Reading
South Carolina agency coordinates law enforcement efforts with NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement By W. Thomas Smith Jr. AS SPRING TURNS TO SUMMER and South Carolina vacationers’ thoughts turn to the Palmetto State’s 187 miles of pristine coastline, so too does the S.C. Department of Natural Resources’ (SCDNR’s) law-enforcement armContinue Reading
IRMO, SC – Officer Todd Minemier, School Resource Officer (SRO) at Lake Murray Elementary School, has been named the 2025 Law Enforcement Officer of the Year by American Legion Post 6. Minemier was nominated by his Richland County Sheriff’s Department supervisors in recognition of his outstanding service. Each year, AmericanContinue Reading
Amari Smith, age 24, of Columbia, has received a sentence of 30 years for his role in the April 16, 2022 Columbiana Mall mass shooting. Smith pled guilty November 1, 2024, following the trial of State v. Jewayne Price in Lexington County. Price was convicted by a jury in OctoberContinue Reading
Deputies past and present have been gathering for more than a quarter century By W. Thomas Smith Jr. SHERIFF LEON LOTT AND THE RICHLAND COUNTY SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT (RCSD) hosted the department’s 27th annual retirees’ luncheon at RCSD’s Denny Terrace training headquarters substation – the cafeteria-auditorium of the former Denny TerraceContinue Reading
How the hit TV series benefits the Richland County Sheriff’s Department By W. Thomas Smith Jr. [A version of this article was published in POLICE1, March 11, 2025] SINCE ITS TELEVISION PREMIER on July 22, 2022, “On Patrol: Live,” a reality TV docuseries produced by Half Moon Pictures and airingContinue Reading
IRMO – Two Dutch Fork High School students were detained Tuesday after school resource officers (SROs) received tips that they had brought firearms onto campus. According to the Richland County Sheriff’s Department, a 15-year-old and a 17-year-old had weapons in a vehicle they arrived in that morning. A search ofContinue Reading
LEXINGTON, S.C. – Lexington County deputies have arrested a Greensboro, North Carolina, woman accused of using fake cashier’s checks to make several purchases, including multiple vehicles. Sierra Blair Stewart, 34, is charged with three counts of forgery for $10,000 or more, and one count each of presenting an altered vehicleContinue Reading