Bluffton police chief hired by former department. He has less than a month left in SC
Bluffton Police Chief Chris Chapmond is leaving town to be top law enforcement officer of his previous department, forcing Bluffton to find its fourth police chief in as many years.
Chapmond was named the new chief of the Hot Springs Police Department Monday, the city manager there announced, according to reporting by The Hot Springs Sentinel-Record.
He will start the new job July 1.
Chapmond will have served with the Bluffton Police Department for less than two years, continuing the town’s revolving door of police chiefs. During a public forum when he was a candidate for Bluffton chief, Chapmond said he planned to stay with the department for “an extended amount of time.”
A call to Chapmond on Tuesday morning was not immediately returned.
When he told The Island Packet he applied for the Arkansas position in late April, Chapmond said he hadn’t been actively looking for a job when this opportunity became available. He was named one of three finalists on May 21.
Chapmond worked for the Hot Springs department for 22 years, including as assistant police chief, before coming to Bluffton.
Hot Springs City Manager Bill Burrough said Chapmond was selected following an “extensive national search” and multiple interviews with a hiring panel and the local Board of Directors.
Finding the next chief
Bluffton Town Manager Marc Orlando said Chapmond submitted a 30-day notice, so his last day with the department will be on or before July 1.
Orlando, who is responsible for appointing the police chief, said he wants to establish an interview process in the next few days and “wrap (his) mind around an interim chief.” In 2018, current Capt. Scott Chandler served as interim chief before Chapmond’s hire.
“The hiring will very closely mirror our last interview process,” Orlando said, which included interviews with him, a citizens panel, the mayor, town attorney, and Town Council.
The hiring process also included a tour of Bluffton and a public forum. Orlando said he is not certain if the public forum will be included again this year due to the concern for public health during the COVID-19 pandemic.
He said the town will conduct a national search, just as it did in 2018 when it received 63 applicants from more than 20 states.
“One thing is for sure,” Orlando said. “Once the process is in place, I’ll trust the process.”
He said he appreciates Chapmond’s efforts and dedication to Bluffton during his time as chief, but understands his decision to return home to Arkansas, where his family is.
He said the department is in “great shape” because of Chapmond and the officers in place.
“I’m not in a hurry to find a new chief, but instead in a hurry to find the right next chief,” Orlando said, reiterating something he often said during the 2018 hiring process.
Chapmond’s time in Bluffton
Chapmond was sworn in Sept. 1, 2018, with a starting salary of $106,000, the same as his predecessor, according to an August 2018 email from deputy town manager Scott Marshall.
Early on, Chapmond promised to build trust within the community and vowed to be transparent.
Within three months of being sworn in, he created a new hiring policy and launched a large recruitment effort to hire more officers while using higher standards and denying jobs to applicants justifiably fired from other departments — a problem the department had faced in the past.
Among the highlights of his time as chief: He expanded the department’s arresting powers on nearby waterways and saw BPD recognized by the S.C. Department of Public Safety as Agency of the Year for its 2018 DUI enforcement. He was also involved in the community, including dressing up as Captain America for Halloween, reading to students, and playing basketball with local kids.
There were also moments of controversy, including February 2019, when Bluffton Police arrested one of its own officers after a bowling alley brawl. The officer later resigned; the charge against him was dismissed.
The department was also criticized for lax discipline of an officer who showed a pattern of smashing car windows and engaging in dangerous pursuits.
Most recently, in January 2020, the chief fired an officer after receiving a citizen complaint that the officer had “sexual relations with someone he had arrested/transported.”
Revolving door of chiefs
The two chiefs who led the department before Chapmond both left amid controversy.
Joey Reynolds served as Bluffton’s chief from September 2012 until he retired in July 2017. During his tenure, the department was criticized for its handling of several issues, including overtime bills, officers accused of drinking on duty, and an officer making an improper arrest outside of the town’s jurisdiction.
Reynolds’ retirement came as The Island Packet was questioning the department about his extensive paid absences.
Joseph Manning was serving as deputy chief when he was promoted to chief the same month Reynolds left.
He served as chief for only nine months, leaving the position in May 2018 to take a job as police chief in at the Sevierville Police Department in Tennessee, where he still works.
The town did not post the chief position following Reynolds’ retirement, town manager Orlando previously said. At the time, Orlando said no other candidates were considered for the position.
This story was originally published June 2, 2020 at 9:08 AM.
