Haley, Lott disagree on who should investigate officer-involved shootings (+ video)

A disagreement between Gov. Nikki Haley and Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott was made public Thursday after Haley said legislation is needed to make Lott turn over officer-involved shooting cases to the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division for investigation.

During a press conference, Haley was asked about proposed legislation coming from both the House and the Senate that would require SLED to investigate all officer-involved shooting investigations. The bills also say that any SLED officer involved in a shooting would be investigated by the county sheriff’s department where the shooting happened.

“It’s a shame that we are even having to have legislation for this, because they are supposed to be doing this anyway,” Haley said. “We are passing a bill because of one sheriff. One sheriff that refuses to turn over cases to SLED. Every other sheriff understands they don’t need to be involved in investigations of their own officers.”

Haley said it would be nice if “that one sheriff would just step up and say, ‘Okay I’ll do it.’ But, if not, we will get the legislature to do it for us.”

When further questioned about which sheriff she was referring to, Haley said “It would be Sheriff Leon Lott.”

In response to Haley’s comments, Lott said through a press release that “the citizens of Richland County trust the Sheriff’s Department to do a thorough gathering of evidence in a deputy involved shooting in order for the Solicitor, Coroner, and Citizens Advisory Council to conduct their independent determination on the facts, and legal ruling of the incident.”

“Law enforcement agencies in South Carolina, to include State agencies, investigate complaints on their own officers’ everyday,” Lott also said in the statement. “We are only doing what large professional law enforcement agencies across the Nation have the capabilities, expertise and experience, to do every day.”

The bills proposed by the House and the Senate are now being reviewed by sub-committees and have until next Thursday to meet the cross-over deadline to move to the other chamber. If the bill does not make the deadline, it can still be taken up next year.

This story was originally published April 23, 2015 at 4:51 PM with the headline "Haley, Lott disagree on who should investigate officer-involved shootings (+ video)."