Bluffton names 4th police chief since 2017. Here’s who got the job
The Bluffton Police Department has a new chief, its fourth since 2017.
Stephenie Price, assistant chief of police for the Savannah Police Department, accepted Bluffton’s top police job and will start on Oct. 12 at a salary of $120,000, according to a town news release.
“Stephenie’s combined depth of law enforcement experience and knowledge of our region is why she is the perfect choice for Bluffton,” Town manager Marc Orlando said. “On behalf of Town leaders, I am enthusiastic to have her join the Town’s executive leadership team and help build upon our community’s legacy of excellence in policing.”
Orlando said he went through more than 100 applications and interviewed four finalists before offering the position to Price.
In an interview earlier this month, Price, 48, said she wants to “strengthen the relationship between the community and law enforcement” in Bluffton.
Price, who has been at the Savannah Police Department for about 18 months, was overseeing the separation of the department from the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office. Price said she couldn’t miss the opportunity to be chief in Bluffton.
Her last day with the Savannah Police Department is Oct. 2.
“That job will never be finished,” she said, referring to her work there. “What is important to me is preparing the future generations.”
Who is Stephenie Price?
Price’s path to chief has taken many turns.
She grew up in Kansas City, Missouri, and, after graduating from high school, she went from cosmetology school to EMT school to paramedic school to nursing school. She finally arrived at the Kansas City Police Department, where she spent the next 21 years.
Starting as a patrol officer, Price said she covered several different bases of law enforcement in Kansas City: internal affairs, narcotics and vice team, training division, and fiscal services unit, among others.
“I’ve spent my career building up experiences, so I could be the Bluffton police chief. I tried to be as well rounded as I could,” she said.
In Savannah, Price said she helped implement big projects, such as computer software that analyzes where officers are most needed in the city, and pushed to acquire more bean bag shotguns and tasers “so officers would have more options.”
Turnover
Price, like all finalists for the Bluffton position, said she would promise to stay long term if chosen as police chief.
Former Chief Christopher Chapmond, who was making $120,370, surprised the town by leaving at the end of June to lead his hometown’s police department after less than two years in Bluffton.
Price will relieve Interim Chief Scott Chandler, who has filled the vacant job twice in two years.
Chapmond had taken over for former Chief Joseph Manning in 2018, who spent a controversial nine months at the helm of the Bluffton Police Department. Before that, there was former Chief Joey Reynolds, who retired in 2017. He also left the job amid controversy over hefty overtime payments and officers accused of drinking on duty.
Price said she loves the Lowcountry and has no plans to leave it.
Reforms?
Bluffton followed many police agencies around the country, making plain its use of force policy after the national outcry from the death of George Floyd.
Like the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office, the Savannah Police Department banned officers’ use of chokeholds in June, a change which Price said she oversaw.
Last month, the Island Packet reported that the FBI was investigating a Bluffton police officer who injured an unarmed, handcuffed Black man during a 2017 traffic stop.
Another Bluffton police officer was found to be barely disciplined after shattering windows and engaging in reckless high speed pursuits last year for minor infractions.
Price said she wouldn’t comment on those cases, but generally, “when it comes to excessive use of force, different demographics of people possibly being the subject of the excessive use of force, there’s valid complaints there,” she said.
This summer’s police reform protests led to a discussion about defunding police departments, a proposal which would shift money away from policing and toward mental health and economic programs.
“Defunding the police department is a business decision of the [town] council and the community and is absolutely something to look at,” Price said. “It does need to be looked at.”
Price said she wouldn’t make any changes to Bluffton’s department until she conducted a thorough assessment of what’s working and what’s not.
“I’m excited to come to work for Bluffton, to integrate with the community, to look at the organization, and review how things are going,” she said.
This story was originally published September 16, 2020 at 1:21 PM.
