Who will be Beaufort’s next police chief? Here’s what we know about finalists
Beaufort is keeping secret its final candidates to be the city’s next police chief, allowing only a small group of select citizens to meet with them or learn about their backgrounds.
South Carolina law demands that information be made public when three or fewer finalists have been chosen for a public position. The city sent out a press release Thursday saying finalists have been chosen, and The Beaufort Gazette has confirmed that about 15 people were allowed to interview three candidates who are being considered to replace Chief Matt Clancy, who died in July.
City manager Bill Prokop, however, defends the secrecy, saying that because he has yet to interview the final candidates, they are not “real” finalists. City Attorney Bill Harvey also said Prokop “has not determined the finalists” but added the city would comply with the newspaper’s records request when Prokop has chosen the finalists.
But information from Mike Sutton, a former council member and candidate for mayor, paints a different picture. Sutton says he was part of a panel that interviewed interim Beaufort Police Chief Dale McDorman, a department head from Savannah Police Department, and an interim chief from a department in North Carolina. The panel asked candidates the same set of questions, individually completed critiques of each candidate and gave them to Prokop, Sutton said.
The S.C. Freedom of Information Act, the state law related to open records and meetings, says “materials relating to not fewer than the final three applicants under consideration for a position must be made available for public inspection and copying. In addition to making available for public inspection and copying the materials described in this item, the public body must disclose, upon request, the number of applicants considered for a position.” The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette filed an open-records request Thursday for finalists’ materials under the law.
An initial group of applicants was interviewed by video conference. A select group then met with a panel of about 15 community members and City Council, including mayor candidates Sutton and Councilman Stephen Murray.
McDorman has been with the Beaufort agency since 1995 and its deputy chief since 2010. Before that, he was a sheriff’s deputy and a law enforcement officer in the U.S. Air Force.
The job posting asks for 10 or more years of progressive experience and 7-8 years of command management. The new police chief will earn a starting salary of $95,000-$115,000 and will report to Prokop.
Clancy was with Beaufort Police Department for 23 years and was named chief in 2008. He was diagnosed with cancer in 2015.
Prokop said in the release that he would consider input from various stakeholders and conduct a comprehensive background investigation before announcing the next police chief.
“Given the strong caliber of our finalists, I am confident that our next chief will be an exceptional leader who will continue our commitment to a police force that is responsive to our community and that ensures our neighborhoods are safe and secure,” he said.
The town of Bluffton released information identifying four finalists for police chief in late August before naming Savannah assistant police chief Stephenie Price its new police chief in mid-September.
This story was originally published October 23, 2020 at 3:15 PM with the headline "Who will be Beaufort’s next police chief? Here’s what we know about finalists."
