Two agencies, two cultures

They’re called “L-grams” among Richland County sheriff’s deputies.

The notes always are signed with the letter “L” and penned in blue ink. And they are a reminder that Sheriff Leon Lott is keeping tabs on the more than 700 people who work in his department.

“That will find a way to work itself into your personnel file,” said Master Deputy Brandon Rast as he described receiving one of these notes from his boss. “Usually, you don’t get negative ones. If you do something negative, you get called to go talk to someone.”

The L-gram is just one example of Lott’s management style. After 14 years as sheriff, he has earned a reputation as a no-nonsense boss.

His deputies say he shows a fondness for employees by remembering tidbits about their families or calling to check on their well-being during a family crisis.

Yet Lott has no tolerance for troublemakers. He is quick to fire employees who are accused of wrongdoing. And deputies say they know right away when Lott is unhappy with their performance.

“The sheriff don’t play,” quipped Master Deputy Charley Simpson, a 41/2-year veteran of the force.

The sheriff’s management style is of much curiosity to Columbia’s police officers as City Council debates whether to hand off management of the Columbia Police Department to Lott. City Council is considering the management contract with Lott after experiencing years of turnover in the police chief’s office.

Of most concern to officers is the ability of the sheriff, because he is elected, to hire and fire deputies at will. At the police department, officers are chosen by the police chief, but their hiring and firing must be approved by the city’s human resources department, the assistant city manager and city manager. Like other city employees, officers who have been fired have an appeals process if they feel they have been treated wrongly.

The sheriff’s ability to fire at will bothers Sgt. Andre Williams, a 20-year Columbia police veteran who oversees the department’s K-9 unit.

“He may disagree with what I say and come in the next morning and fire me,” Williams said. “Is that fair for me and my family?”

But firing at will is not an issue. Under state law, city manager Steve Gantt would still have to be the one who fired city officers, and city officers would still be able to appeal.

But thus far, few details have been released about how Lott might administer two departments that have distinct differences. The city has better-paid officers. The county has higher fitness standards. The county allows officers to drive their cars home. The city does not have enough cars to do that.

If Lott were to take over management of the police department, he would have to figure out how to unite those differences.

Lott said he will not spend time figuring out those details until Columbia City Council makes a decision on whether he will manage the city’s police department.

This latest discussion over combining the two departments is the fourth such debate, Lott said, so why waste time on details when it may never come to pass?

‘I’m not going to change’

But it is that lack of details that is of concern to Columbia’s police officers.

“You think that doesn’t make for an uncomfortable feeling at the police department?” asked Lt. D.K. Martin, a 23-year veteran who oversees hiring and training at the department.

But Lott said city police, council members and the public only need to look at his history as sheriff and a deputy to know how he will manage the officers. When he beat longtime Sheriff Alan Sloan in 1996, Lott did not get rid of his former rival’s staff.

“That’s why this wholesale thought that I would fire people is the biggest BS I’ve ever heard of,” Lott said. “I’ve had a history here for 35 years. I’m not going to change.”

Still, Lott has high expectations.

For example, physical workouts are mandatory for all deputies, and they receive free memberships at Gold’s Gym to comply. Once a year, he administers a physical fitness exam as well as tests on marksmanship and other police skills.

At the beginning of the fitness test, deputies are given an address. After running through a series of sprints, push-ups and sit-ups, they must repeat the address, said Cpl. Amanda Jordan, a member of Lott’s Community Action Team. There are no separate fitness standards for men and women or age groups.

“We’re wearing the same uniform,” Jordan said. “No one is going to say I only do 10 pull-ups and you do 20.”

At the Columbia Police Department, job candidates must pass a fitness test to be hired and again to graduate from the state’s Criminal Justice Academy. But there is no yearly fitness evaluation for officers.

Sheriff’s deputies know they are paid less than city officers. But they also are quick to point out that they have not been furloughed or had paid holidays suspended. Plus, they have a perk that city police do not.

“We have take-home cars,” said Lt. Harry J. Polis Jr. of the sheriff’s uniform patrol division.

The sheriff’s department has had better equipment for years, including a forensics lab and a tank, said Jon VanHouten, a Columbia police investigator.

“The police department makes more money, but the sheriff’s department always got neat toys to play with,” he said.

The police department has been never been on the cutting edge with equipment, VanHouten said. It was one of the last departments in the state to transition to semiautomatic pistols from revolvers, among the last to install cameras inside patrol cars and among the last to equip officers with Tasers, he said.

“We’re a capital city, and there’s no reason we shouldn’t be leading everything in South Carolina when it comes to public safety,” he said.

Columbia police officers manage to maintain a sense of pride even though their department has been heavily scrutinized and the chief’s office has been a revolving door, said Williams, the K-9 officer.

“I love the Columbia Police Department’s identity,” he said. “I have pride in the uniforms, the cars, the dogs.”

If the department suffers from low morale, it’s because of City Council’s financial mismanagement that has forced furloughs and other cuts, several officers said.

“Everything revolves around money,” VanHouten said. “When you have a bad year like we have the past couple of years, you’re still going to do your job, but it becomes a morale factor.”

Fifth Circuit Solicitor Barney Geise said the difference between the two agencies isn’t the quality of the officers but the quality of the resources. As solicitor, Geise must build solid legal cases against criminals based on the work of police and sheriff’s deputies.

“I know when I have a county case, they are going to have forensics, it’s going to be good forensics, it’s going to be investigated well,” he said. “With the city, you just don’t have that often the forensic aspect of it.”

Despite their differences, Lott said he can successfully manage the two departments. At the end of the day, cops want a department that allows them to live up to the high standards of their profession, he said.

“Cops work together,” he said. “It’s not an issue. It’s a matter of leadership.”