By W. Thomas Smith Jr. COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA – Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott [pictured above] was the featured guest of EXPERIENCE MATTERS, a new CRTV television program hosted by Drew Berquist of the OpsLens Media Group. In a pre-recorded interview segment,…
By W. Thomas Smith Jr. FORT JACKSON, S.C. – This week, 117 SWAT-trained law enforcement officers from 21 separate police departments and sheriff’s offices across S.C. are participating in the third annual S.C. SWAT Summit, a joint training effort facilitated by the…
Five questions for RCSD’s Elder Abuse Awareness Team director W. Thomas Smith Jr. By Chris Carter Writer, editor, and military analyst W. Thomas Smith Jr. [pictured above] has long-been recognized as an expert in infantry combat, special operations, and counterterrorism. But his…
The man behind the mic By W. Thomas Smith Jr. IF YOU ARE A FAN OF GAMECOCK BASKETBALL, especially if you have regularly attended University of South Carolina home games at Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, you’ve no doubt heard the mellifluous…
Commentary by Bill Connor Recently my 17-year-old son and I enjoyed a truly great movie: 12 STRONG, which was the story of the first U.S. Army Special Forces team to deploy inside Afghanistan in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. Having served in…
By SHERIFF LEON LOTT The world has changed. Nowhere is this more evident than in this modern culture which has given rise to mass-shootings like the recent horrific attack at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. As is always predictable,…
ARMY VETERAN OVERSEES MEDIA FOR ONE OF S.C.’s LARGEST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES By W. Thomas Smith Jr. COLUMBIA, S.C. – Newly promoted Captain Maria Yturria, Richland County Sheriff’s Dept. (RCSD), has been named director of the RCSD’s office of public information. She…
By Sheriff Leon Lott A recent article my department had written and published in POLICEONE.com again reiterated the absolute necessity of front-of-the-pipeline conditioning training for those who are the most-susceptible to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD); what the military services had in previous…
By COL Bill Connor The top enlisted member of the U.S. Army, Sergeant Major John Wayne Troxel, recently posted on Facebook that remaining members of ISIS had two options: “Surrender or die.” He further explained: “If they surrender, we will safeguard them to their…
By COL Bill Connor In recent weeks, the Trump administration’s decision to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem has caused worldwide reaction. First we’ve witnessed the predictable Palestinian protests against the move, as the Embassy move is perceived as a…
