Roger Heaton
Training Coordinator - Government Training Institute

June 28, 2017 By Government Training Institute

Roger Heaton - Training Coordinator

Roger has thirty-four plus years of law enforcement experience, with twenty-eight years of experience providing instruction on law enforcement and tactical topics, seventeen years of command level experience, as well as fifteen years of tactical experience and 4 years of tactical WMD experience.

He became a certified firearms and law enforcement Instructor in 1984 after successfully completing the SC Criminal Justice Academy Instructor courses.

His tactical experience began with the Orangeburg County Sheriff's Office where he served eight years as commander of a four county Multijurisdictional Drug and Violent Crime Task Force. This was an active task force serving numerous arrest and search warrants each week. This task force was the beginning of Orangeburg Counties first SWAT Team. In addition to teaching SWAT tactics, he was the team's firearms, Chemical Agent, Distraction Device and Less Lethal Instructor.

Roger Heaton - Training Coordinator

His tactical experience continued when he joined the SC Law Enforcement Division (SLED), and became a member of their SWAT Team. Once again he became the teams Chemical Agent, Distraction Device, Less Lethal Instructor and a member of the sniper team. He has completed the Live Agent Weapons of Mass Destruction training course at the Center for Domestic Preparedness in Anniston Alabama, and was a member of the South Carolina Tactical WMD Team. While with SLED he also taught numerous classes on domestic and international terrorism.

He has served on numerous federal task forces to include; the FBI JTTF where he held a top secret security clearance, USMS Operation Intercept Fugitive Task Force, and numerous Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces where he was sworn in as a Special Deputy US Marshal.

Proudly being a graduate of the 193rd Session of the FBI National Academy, Roger has been recognized for his law enforcement achievements during his career to include receiving the South Carolina Deputy Sheriff of the Year Award, the U.S. Senator Strom Thurmond Award for Excellence in Law Enforcement, a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Certificate of Appreciation, Federal Bureau of Investigation Letters of Commendation from FBI Director Louis J. Freeh, a U.S. Attorney's Office Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force Certificate of Appreciation, a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Award of Excellence, and Roger was the first state or local officer in SC to receive the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Directors Award.

Roger has also been a featured speaker on "Investigating Officer Involved Shootings" at the SC Law Enforcement Officers Association annual conference and on "Violent Crime in SC" for the SC Municipalities Association annual conference.