‘You have to start early’: Ex-cop to take on Lott for Richland County sheriff in 2020

A man who started his career as a 21-year-old at the Richland County Sheriff’s Department says he intends to run it.

Jason Roberts, 44, — who worked as a corporal at the sheriff’s department, the Eastover police chief and a special assistant to Columbia’s police chief — released a statement Thursday saying he intends to run against incumbent and former boss, Sheriff Leon Lott.

Despite his plans for running, Roberts has yet to file papers to make his candidacy official, or to reach out to a political party for support, he said.

Roberts announced his intention for candidacy more than a year before the 2020 race.

“When you’re running against an incumbent and someone as popular as Sheriff Lott, you have to start early,” Roberts said.

Lott said Thursday he learned of Roberts’ inkling to run earlier in the day.

“I don’t run against people,” he told The State. “I run for the votes of the citizens as a report card on the job that I’ve done as sheriff. I look forward to 2020 and running again and letting the voters speak.”

“When you do a search for Columbia, a bunch of crime briefs come up,” Roberts said.

Specifically, he wants to encourage sheriff’s deputies to live in Richland County and re-implement a program where deputies police the neighborhoods and areas they live in, Roberts said.

He also wants to open up the sheriff’s department’s hiring process by including candidates that may not have four-year college degrees. The sheriff’s office currently requires that level of education, while Columbia’s police force does not, he said.

As a former sheriff’s department employee, he said he believes the force has become too reactionary and not proactive enough when it comes to crime.

Roberts has lived in the Columbia area his entire life, he said. That’s why he’s passionate about protecting it.

“This is my home,” Roberts said.

The could-be candidate is a 14-year veteran of the sheriff’s department, where he worked as part of the court security force, a training officer a shift supervisor, a traffic safety deputy, a member of the special response team and a member of the Community Action Team, according to his statement.

He left the sheriff’s department twice: once to be the police chief in Eastover and once in a move to the Columbia Police Department.

While working in Columbia, he worked on the proactive community enforcement unit, the crime prevention unit and the community response team, as well as working as special assistant to the chief. He also spent time working as the coordinator for the mayor’s security detail.

Roberts currently works in the private security business as the CEO of Affinity Solutions of South Carolina.

Lott has been the Richland County sheriff since 1996.

This story was originally published July 19, 2018 at 2:43 PM.