Lexington, SC 01/22/2021 – Chief Terrence Green of the Lexington Police Department announced recently that Sergeant Jeremy Sooter was chosen by his peers as the recipient of the ”Art Rish - Employee of the Year” Award for 2020.
Sergeant Jeremy Sooter has been with the Lexington Police Department since 2002 where he began his career in the Patrol Division after graduation from the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy. He spent time within the Traffic Safety Unit before returning to the Patrol Division. He was promoted to Corporal in July 2005 and was promoted again in February 2006 to Sergeant.
Sergeant Jeremy Sooter was a member of our Emergency Services Team (E.S.T.) for over fifteen years, participated on the Alcohol Enforcement Team, and currently leads our department’s Honor Guard.
In July of 2019, Sergeant Sooter became the department’s Training Sergeant where he oversees the Training Unit that is responsible for the planning and management of training of over 60 officers.
The Lexington Police Department puts a tremendous focus on training and believes it to be the foundation of a professional law enforcement officer. Our officers typically receive well over 100 hours of in-service training each year along with additional advanced training depending on their assignment within the agency. Sergeant Jeremy Sooter matches career development requests of each officer with training opportunities, maintains training records and certifications, plans bi-yearly Block Training sessions, and writes and updates lesson plans to ensure our training requirements meet or exceed the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy along with state and the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) accreditation standards.
“It wasn’t a surprise that Sergeant Sooter would be nominated and chosen for this award as his hard work over the past year and a half within the Training Unit has shown his skills in organization and management which ensures that all of our officers are properly trained and equipped for their work”,
Chief Terrence Green said. “Continuous training lays a foundation that we never stop building on, where our officers better understand our policies, procedures, expectations, and they can learn during scenarios that will better prepare them for what they see during their shifts.”
Sergeant Jeremy Sooter was previously a Defensive Tactics and Ground Defense Instructor and currently instructs in DUI/SFST, Firearms and Patrol Rifle, Less Lethal Munitions, Taser, and manages the department’s Field Training and Evaluation Program. Sergeant Jeremy Sooter is also the department’s Quartermaster, which means he outfits every officer with uniforms and all their other assigned equipment.
Sergeant Jeremy Sooter has been married to his wife for over 22 years, has three children, and before joining the Lexington Police Department, he was a 10-year veteran of the United States Army.
