April 14 at 7p.m. in The Breed Leadership Center room 103
OPEN to ALL Columbia College Community Members

Law Enforcement Responses to Gang Activity

Guest Speakers:

REGINALD I. LLOYD
DIRECTOR SOUTH CAROLINA LAW ENFORCEMENT DIVISION 
Reginald ‘Reggie’ I. Lloyd is a native South Carolinian born in Kershaw County.  On February 14, 2008 he was confirmed by the Senate of South Carolina as the Director of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division.  Immediately preceding his appointment, Director Lloyd served as the United States Attorney for the District of South Carolina. 
      
Director Lloyd’s professional career has also included other governmental positions as well as in the private sector.  From May 2003 until February 2006 he served on The Circuit Court of South Carolina, which included Chief Administrative Judge for both the Second and Fifth Circuits.  He also served as the Director of Research and Counsel for the House Judiciary Committee and as an Assistant Attorney General.  His time in the private sector included service with Nexsen, Pruet, Jacobs, & Pollard as well as Nelson, Mullins, Riley, & Scarborough, and AT&T.
           
Director Lloyd’s education includes a Bachelor of Arts from Winthrop College in 1989 and a Juris Doctor from the University of South Carolina School of Law.  While at Winthrop he served as the Vice President of the Student Body and the Editor of the Roddey-McMillan Record.  During his time at USC’s Law School he was a member of the Craven Constitutional Law Moot Court Team and the Chief Justice of the University of South Carolina Moot Court Bar. 
           
Community Involvement is an important part of Director Lloyd’s life.  During 1994-1995 he served on the Kershaw County Council.  He also has served on a number of boards to include EdVenture Children’s Museum Board of Directors, Richland County Guardian Ad Litem Project Board of Directors, Trustus Theatre Board of Directors, and Kershaw County United Way Board of Directors. 
           
Director Lloyd is married with one child and resides in Kershaw County.
 
 
Sheriff James Metts, Lexington County
 
James R. Metts has devoted his career to law enforcement, starting as a dispatcher with the West Columbia Police Department in 1967. In 1972, at the age of 25, Metts became the youngest sheriff ever elected in the nation. He has served as sheriff of Lexington County since December 15, 1972, earning him the longest tenure for a Republican currently holding elected office in South Carolina.
 
Sheriff Metts has earned a Bachelor of Arts degree, a Master’s degree in criminal justice and a Doctorate in education, all from the University of South Carolina. He is also a graduate of the FBI National Academy, the National Sheriff’s Institute and the National Corrections Academy. In August of 2002, Sheriff Metts enrolled as the first South Carolina sheriff ever accepted in the South Carolina Executive Institute.
 
In 1998, Governor David Beasley awarded Sheriff Metts the Order of the Palmetto – the highest civilian honor that a governor can bestow in South Carolina. Then, in 2004, Governor Mark Sanford presented Sheriff Metts with the Order of the Silver Crescent – an award presented to South Carolina residents for “exemplary performance, contribution and achievement within the community.
 
Over the years, Sheriff Metts has established a reputation as an innovative law enforcement administrator. For example, he was the first sheriff in South Carolina to hire school resource officers and victim assistance officers, and he was the first South Carolina sheriff to employ women as sworn law enforcement officers. He also was the first sheriff in the state to implement mandatory drug screening and psychological testing of prospective deputies.
 
As a professional law enforcement administrator, Metts has served as a role model for children by participating in school programs to promote reading and by working with Boy Scout troops across Lexington County. Sheriff Metts, who is an Eagle Scout, is the recipient of the Silver Beaver Award – the highest civilian honor bestowed by the Boy Scouts of America, and he started the first Boy Scouts of America Law Enforcement Explorer Post at the Sheriff’s Department, providing an opportunity for hundreds of teenagers to receive first-hand experience about a career in law enforcement. Over the years, he has hired many former explorer scouts to work as full-time deputies with the department.
 
Sheriff Metts is married to the former Carol Richardson. They have three daughters, three granddaughters and three grandsons.
 
 

What is the Symposium?
     This symposium will deal with issues that affect all of us: increase in violence, and especially by females, as well as increase in female gang participation and increase in 'all female' gangs. We will also look at the 'politics' of gang membership, and what our politicians are doing to curb the violence, and perhaps most importantly, what do we need to do to stop our young ladies from becoming members themselves.
 
Our invited speakers will be drawn from (both from within the state of SC to those from other states): local and state politics, law enforcement, prison officials, former gang members, advocacy groups (for victims of violence and those trying to leave gangs), as well as gang membership in the military, and noted scholars in the study of gang membership. Every meeting will have a different topic/theme and we have invited experts from all fields to come and join us in this timely discussion .
 
Last year's National Security Symposium was a great success and we predict this one will be even better. With such a timely and provocative topic, the Political Science and History Department extends an invitation for our staff and faculty, students and others to find time to come and visit us when we meet. This will be open to ALL of Columbia College Community at Large.
 
Please contact Dr Jones X3628, or jones@columbiasc.edu for more information.