Cop fired from Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office for dishonesty is hired by Bluffton Police
A police officer who was fired for lying and stripped of her certification has been hired by the Bluffton Police Department – even though department officials knew about her past.
Officer Selena Nelson was fired from the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office Aug. 10 after she failed a polygraph test to determine whether she acted unprofessionally at a Bluffton store while in uniform.
Nelson, who had worked for the Sheriff’s Office since March 15, 2004, was accused of yelling, using profanity including the word “a--,” and chanting “cash money” repeatedly on July 31 when a clerk at Oreck Clean Home Center in Bluffton said he could not refund her cash for an air purifier that she had recently purchased.
Nelson was wearing her uniform, duty weapon and Taser at the time, according to witness testimony. The store’s co-owner, clerk and a customer filed complaints with the sheriff’s department following the July 31 incident.
The sheriff’s office launched an internal affairs investigation, including a polygraph exam, which Nelson failed. The test determined she was deceptive in some of her answers.
Less than a month later, she was hired by the Bluffton Police Department and is currently working as a patrol officer. The department said they knew she had been fired for misconduct and dishonesty prior to hiring her.
“I read the report, and I interviewed her along with other members of my command staff, and we felt that she would get through this,” said Bluffton Police Chief Joseph Manning.
Fired police officers who are stripped of their certification are able to maintain full arrest powers if they are hired by another law enforcement agency, according to Major Florence McCants, public information officer of the S.C. Criminal Justice Academy.
However, those powers continue only if the officer wins his or her hearing to contest decertification. Officers have a year from when they are fired to undergo hearing proceedings. The date for Nelson’s hearing is unknown.
Manning declined to say why he believes Nelson can win her certification hearing. He said his police department is not involved in the matter, as it is between Nelson and the academy.
“Members of the Bluffton Police Department adhere to our operating procedures,” Manning wrote in an email when asked if he was concerned about Nelson’s future honesty. “Should an issue come up, it will be investigated like any other employee.”
If Nelson were to lose the hearing, she could still contest the ruling in Administrative Law Court.
“Once the law court makes a ruling, that’s final,” McCants said.
By being fired for dishonesty, Nelson committed one of the “seven deadly sins” for law enforcement officers, McCants said.
Committing any one of the “sins” could allow the academy’s Law Enforcement Training Council to withdraw and/or deny an officer’s certification.
Manning said that if Nelson loses her hearing, her employment with the police department will be terminated.
He added that Nelson obtained legal counsel for the hearing.
Benjamin Shelton, of Finger, Menlick & Brooks P.A. on Hilton Head Island, said he is representing Nelson. Shelton declined to comment on the hearing proceedings or the case.
“I personally have interactions with (Nelson) as a prosecutor and in private practice and a citizen,” Shelton said. “I’ve had nothing but positive interactions with her. If I didn’t believe she was an excellent officer, I would not be representing her.”
Nelson declined to be interviewed for this story.
McCants said it is not unusual for police departments to hire officers who are in limbo, awaiting a certification hearing.
“There’s such a shortage in law enforcement officers. The issue is not hiring officers. The problem is retaining them,” McCants said.
Though Manning said he was aware of the reason Nelson had been fired prior to hiring her, he said he hasn’t previously hired an officer in that situation as chief.
“I’ve only been a chief for six months, so this is the first time that I’ve hired anyone like this,” Manning said. “We vetted it and we felt she was worth hiring.”
Beaufort and Jasper County law enforcement agencies have a history of hiring officers who have been fired or resigned from other departments.
A Jan. 2016 investigation by The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette revealed of 145 local police officers with past law enforcement experience in the state, 21 previously had been fired or resigned while facing disciplinary action.
Caitlin Turner: 843-706-8184, @Cait_E_Turner
Nelson’s history with the Sheriff’s Office
During her time as an employee for the Sheriff’s Office, Nelson received several positive reviews from the public, according to her Sheriff’s Office personnel file.
Nelson was hired March 15, 2004 and fired Aug. 10, 2017 at the rank of sergeant.
Over her years at the department, her supervisors received several emails and hand-written letters saying Nelson acted in a professional manner. One person wrote Nelson “took immediate control of a scene and was an outstanding leader, giving very clear direction.” Another wrote Nelson was “kind, efficient and thoughtful” and a “fine example of the department.”
One writer, who identified himself to Sheriff P.J. Tanner as a retired detective from another law enforcement department, said Nelson used a “high degree of professionalism” when she pulled him over for speeding.
The “seven deadly sins” to law enforcement
The Training Act and corresponding regulations allow the S.C. Criminal Justice Academy’s Law Enforcement Training Council to withdraw and/or deny certification to an officer if the officer has committed misconduct defined below.
1. Conviction, plea of guilt, plea of no contest or admission of guilt (regardless of adjudication) to a felony, a crime punishable by a sentence of one year or more (regardless of the sentence actually imposed, if any), or a crime of moral turpitude in this or any other jurisdiction.
2. Unlawful use of controlled substance
3. Repeated use of excessive force in dealing with the public and/or prisoners.
4. Dangerous and/or unsafe practices involving firearms, weapons, and/or vehicles which indicate a willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property.
5. Physical or psychological abuses of members of the public and/or prisoners.
6. Misrepresentation of employment-related information.
7. Dishonesty with respect to his/her employer, untruthfulness with respect to his/her employer.
This story was originally published January 21, 2018 at 10:02 AM with the headline "Cop fired from Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office for dishonesty is hired by Bluffton Police."