CAT has new home in the Village at Sandhill

Recently, we unveiled the new home for the RCSD Community Action Team (C.A.T.) at the Village of Sandhill. I am proud to be working with Mr. Alan Kahn and Mr. Jeffrey Harper, General Manager the Village at Sandhill who both support this addition to the area- which has proven to be one of the fasted growing areas of the County.

I was so inspired to see the amazing support of both community members, and County Council members during the ribbon cutting event. We are currently discussing a long standing partnership between the Sheriff’s Department and the Village that has led to the Team’s new home. It is amazing to think about what we can accomplish when we all work together.

C.A.T. members work day and night to build relationships in the community that will improve the quality of life in our neighborhoods. The partnership with the Village is an example of one relationship that will do just that by putting the CAT Deputies directly into their areas.

The C.A.T. Program (created for the sole purpose of “Building Unity in the Community”) stands ready to partner with every community and business in Richland County. CAT members are trained to provide FREE safety education, training and resources that will help reduce your chances of becoming the victim of a crime.

In 1996 I created the Department’s Community Action Team (C.A.T.) -- a group of 14 specialized, highly trained officers with the mission to create partnerships, prevent crime and develop crime reduction strategies. The CAT objective is to improve the quality of life in our communities and solve problems. Through the leadership of Sheriff Leon Lott, the Community Action Team has organized 350 Neighborhood and Business Crime Watch organizations and are constantly working to empower our citizens.

The C.A.T. program is far more than an extension of law enforcement; by using community oriented policing methods, each Region of Richland County has been assigned specific officers (see chart below). In turn, these officers attend community meetings, and gather information about their particular areas and the area's special needs. The goals set by Sheriff Lott are for the CAT Deputies to act upon are education, awareness and enforcement. The CAT Deputies are also tasked with being a liaison between the community and the diverse divisions within the Sheriff’s Department (Forensic Science, Investigation, Narcotics, Patrol etc.) so that they too can function in the best interests of the individual communities.

It is also the mission of the C.A.T. program to develop long term solutions for all neighborhoods and citizens of Richland County. This includes things as simple as conducting FREE home and business security surveys, to developing strategies for ridding areas of criminals.

I expect that this relationship between the Department and the Village will continue to grow. We look forward to a long term partnership that will ultimately help maintain "Unity in the Community".