Bluffton chief always on duty, doing good job

First off, I do not know the Bluffton police chief, have never met him, and am not connected in any way to the police department. I have no ax to grind.

But I am disturbed by your reporting on the front page, and editorializing later, about perceived misdeeds.

Do you understand how a professional thinks and acts? 24/7 means what it says. On-call to answer the phone anytime; show up at any major police activity, day or night; handle any catastrophic event requiring immediate command and control; sometimes working 24 or 36 hours straight ... and always being responsible for the department to the people of Bluffton and those who hired him. That depth of responsibility is not shared by newspaper people.

A professional doesn’t punch a time clock. You can’t judge a professional with blue collar standards (pun intended). If the truth be known, I’ll bet that if you could really audit the time the chief spends on police business — here, on a plane, or overseas — he might end up the lowest paid officer in the department, on an hourly basis. Think about it.

Your suggestions that standards for all sorts of situations, that you can’t possibly foresee, be written ... that’s just bureaucratic and wasteful nonsense.

Lastly, I’ve read your paper for many years, and I can’t ever recall any criticism of Chief Joey Reynolds for how he acted. Just the opposite: Those who hired him are quite happy with his performance.

This story was originally published June 27, 2017 at 10:02 AM with the headline "Bluffton chief always on duty, doing good job."