Bluffton police chief tests positive for COVID, town officials say
Bluffton Police Department Chief Stephenie Price has tested positive for the coronavirus, according to town leaders.
Two town council members confirmed the news on Tuesday, but police officials and Price have refused to answer any questions about positive test results for COVID-19 in the department.
Price’s positive test raises questions about who is quarantining and why the secrecy about Bluffton’s chief law enforcement officer when South Carolina’s governor and several of its Congress members announced when they had the virus that has killed more than 5,300 S.C. residents and infected more than 328,000.
Numerous police departments across the state and country — including in Richland County and Pageland, S.C.; Charlotte, Tampa Bay and Fort Worth — issued public statements when their police chiefs tested positive for COVID-19. Bluffton, however, has been tight-lipped.
Reached by phone on Monday night, Price said she is “not allowed to release any health information on any Bluffton employee, including myself.”
When asked whether she thought Bluffton citizens had a right to know if their police chief was in quarantine, she said, “Is there anything else? Anything else you need to know?”
She hung up the phone shortly after.
Capt. Joe Babkiewicz with the department declined to answer whether the chief was in quarantine or other officers were infected.
“All Bluffton police officers are following CDC guidelines,” he said.
If Price were to be unavailable for some reason, he said the job of running the department would fall to the two captains: himself or Capt. Scott Chandler.
Bluffton Mayor Lisa Sulka and outgoing Town Manager Marc Orlando did not return calls seeking comment Tuesday.
Town Council member Fred Hamilton, however, confirmed Tuesday that Price had tested positive for COVID. Only the chief tested positive, he said, “not any other members.” Hamilton said he couldn’t remember when he found out.
“I actually called her myself to check on her and [she] said she was doing pretty good,” he said.
Town Council member Larry Toomer also confirmed the chief’s positive test, adding that he doesn’t “like getting involved in people’s personal stuff.” He said town officials received an email about it “over the weekend,” but couldn’t remember if he found out Friday, Saturday or Sunday.
“I haven’t called or spoken to her personally, but I plan on doing that,” he said. “It’s my understanding she’s not hospitalized or anything.”
Asked about the town’s protocol for handling the chief’s positive test, Toomer said, “I’m assured that if there’s a reason the chief can’t be somewhere, we have capable people.”
This story was originally published January 12, 2021 at 3:31 PM.
