City of Beaufort names its next police chief. It’s a familiar face
Beaufort has named a police department veteran its next top law enforcement officer.
The city has promoted longtime officer Dale McDorman to chief of police, a news release said. McDorman served as deputy chief for 10 years under Matt Clancy before Clancy’s death in July.
He was hired from a group of finalists that included a Savannah Police Department captain and outgoing police chief in Maryland.
“I believe that the Beaufort Police Department is one of the best in our state and I want to continue that and make us better,” McDorman said in a statement. “I plan to focus on community involvement, transparency and providing a well-trained department to serve the citizens.”
City spokeswoman Kathleen Williams said McDorman’s new salary has not been finalized but is within the $95,000 to $115,000 range in the job description. McDorrman earned $99,519 as deputy chief, according to the most recent salary records provided by the city under the state Freedom of Information Act.
He’ll oversee a staff of 54 officers and a $4 million department budget.
McDorman said he planned to form a citizens advisory board for the community to share concerns and for the agency to better communicate with neighborhoods.
“I believe if we ever grow comfortable with where we are in community service, we are missing something,” he said in the release.
City manager Bill Prokop, who made the hiring decision, called McDorman a “capable and professional” internal candidate who impressed during interviews with city officials and community members and “will be building on the programs and methods that were instilled in the Police Department by Chief Clancy.”
Since starting at Beaufort Police Department in 1995, McDorman worked his way up from a K-9 to sergeant and lieutenant in operations. He was promoted to deputy chief by Clancy in 2010.
An Ohio native, McDorman served in the U.S. Air Force eight years after high school and as a sheriff’s deputy in Ohio before moving to Beaufort and starting with the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office in 1990. He joined the city agency five years later.
