FAIRFIELD COUNTY OFFICER IS POLICE ACADEMY DISTINGUISHED GRADUATE

(Columbia, SC) A Forestry Commission officer from Blackstock has graduated with honors from the SC Criminal Justice Academy. Agent Tommy Mills was recognized as a Distinguished Graduate for his performance in the basic law enforcement course.

Mills, a 15-year Forestry Commission veteran, is an investigator handling timber fraud and woods arson cases in the midlands and upstate. Prior to his current assignment he has served as a forest firefighter and supervisor in Berkeley and Fairfield Counties.

The grueling nine-week basic law enforcement course includes training in firearms, pursuit driving, defensive tactics, physical fitness, arrest procedures, and criminal law. Mills distinguished himself by maintaining a 99 average throughout the cycle.

Forestry is a family tradition for Mills. His father, Ed Mills, retired as the Commission’s Fairfield County Ranger, and his mother, Frances, was a fire tower operator. An uncle retired as the Forestry Commission’s chief of forest management, and a cousin is currently a forest law enforcement officer and supervisor in Richland and Fairfield County.

Mills, a forestry graduate of Horry-Georgetown TEC, is one of only forty officers enforcing forestry laws statewide.

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For more information, contact: Ken Cabe, 803-896-8820.