Aiken County Capt. Eric Abdullah receives statewide honor

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) - An Aiken County deputy received a statewide honor Friday from the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Law Enforcement Coordinating Committee, along with the South Carolina Law Enforcement Officers Association and the Strom Thurmond Foundation.

Capt. Eric Abdullah received the honor in the county-level category during the annual Strom Thurmond Awards for Excellence in Law Enforcement Luncheon at the Fort Jackson NCO Club in Columbia.

About 200 state, local and federal law enforcement officials from across the state attended the luncheon to honor these officers and hear from Gov. Henry McMaster, the keynote speaker.

The awards began in 1983 and McMaster was the first U.S. attorney to co-host these awards.

Aside from Abdullah, other honorees, by category, were:

City – Chief Amy S. Prock, Myrtle Beach Police Department
Federal – Special Agent Adam R. Hardin, Drug Enforcement istration
State – Col. Christopher Williamson, South Carolina Highway Patrol

Capt. Eric Abdullah, center, received teh Strom Thurmond Award for Excellence in Law Enforcement.(Contributed)

Abdullah began his South Carolina law enforcement career in 2003 when he ed the Aiken County Sheriff’s Office.

He’s served in many roles, including patrol deputy, corporal, patrol sergeant, patrol lieutenant, and swat team commander. In 2013, he was appointed captain over the special operations division and public information officer. In 2022, he also assumed command of the uniformed patrol division.

“He has done an outstanding job throughout the years building relationships with internal and external stakeholders by working harder than anyone I know and always models the way of a law enforcement professional,” said Aiken County Sheriff Michael Hunt.