Formed 1787 Sworn members 700 | Legal jurisdiction County Unsworn members 140 | |
Legal personality Governmental: Government agency General nature Law enforcement
Civilian agency | ||
The Richland County Sheriff's Department (RCSD) is the agency charged with the law enforcement for the unincorporated areas of Richland County, South Carolina, USA. Since 1997, the agency has been led by Sheriff Leon Lott. The RCSD employs 700 sworn deputies.
History
The RCSD was formed in 1787, two years after Richland County's formation. 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 RCSD was the first U.S. law enforcement agency to use the FN P90 submachine gun.
References
Richland County Sheriff's Department Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA