Social media activity by Beaufort County investigator shows why many distrust police

On Lt. Baird

The Island Packet recently published an article on how Lt. Brian Baird, the top investigator for internal affairs in the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office, outed himself by sharing numerous divisive social media posts.

One of the posts shared by Baird falsely accused former President Barack Obama of helping his “Muslim Brothers” while another post appeared to condone police officers shooting fleeing suspects in the back.

Baird’s social media activity is emblematic of why there is so much distrust of law enforcement agencies across the country.

Instead of staffing the upper levels of police departments with people who are committed to the fair administration of justice, the chiefs hire uninformed, misogynistic, racially biased individuals and place them in positions where they can do the most harm.

Baird is entitled to share his odious views with the world, but what he should not be allowed to do is to oversee internal investigations into allegations of police misconduct.

The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office allows its employees free expression “to the degree that their speech does not…negatively affect the public perception” of that office.

But how do Baird’s comments instill confidence in the public that internal investigations will be conducted fairly and impartially by someone without pre-formed views?

How can the Sheriff’s Office conclude that such inflammatory statements by one of its top officials do not hurt the department’s reputation?

Baird has been reassigned, but if Sheriff P.J. Tanner is truly concerned about restoring public trust in his department’s operations, he will find someone more fair-minded to oversee the department’s internal affairs investigations.

Ted Kerine, Bluffton

On physician shortages

A recent article titled “Hilton Head not No.1 Place to Retire due to Doctors” addressed the shortage of primary care physicians in the Hilton Head area.

But this is a statewide problem, too: in fact there are some counties in South Carolina that have no primary care physicians at all.

One way to resolve this issue would be to allow professional practice autonomy for advanced practice registered nurse practitioners.

The nurse practitioner bill that was passed in this state last year does afford a wider scope of practice for nurse practitioners in many area — such as providing greater ability to prescribe certain medications — but it still ties the nurse practitioner to a supervising physician.

As a former primary care physician I can speak firsthand to the extraordinary level of professional medical care that is given by advanced practice nurse practitioners, and many studies show that the quality of primary care provided by these professionals is equal to that offered by primary care physicians.

As physicians choose in increasing numbers to go into specialties other than primary care — or into concierge medicine — our state should be seeking more ways to utilize nurse practitioners to effectively provide primary care.

Richard Granse, Bluffton

On patriotism, politics

I am a liberal Democrat, and I believe in and support liberal causes whenever and wherever possible.

I hold dear the principles of liberal politics, which is a philosophy based on belief in progress, the essential goodness of the human race, the autonomy of the individual and the concept that government is a crucial instrument for addressing and eliminating social inequities (such as those involving race, gender or class).

But first and foremost I am an American, and my liberal Democrat politics come after my patriotism; given a choice between a conservative patriot and a liberal autocrat, I will choose the patriot every time.

Why?

Because I respect the constitutional republic in which we live and potentially thrive. Autocrats are self-dealers, and I have no use for left-wing dictators; they are the very antithesis of our Founding Fathers.

We have a crucial election coming soon, and I want every voter to look in the mirror and answer these questions:

Do my politics come before my patriotism?

Does the man who allows bounties placed on the heads of those who serve to protect our freedoms deserve my vote?

Does the man who ignored the pandemic until time ran out deserve another term?

These are not political questions. This is about patriotism.

Please, I urge you to put your country before your politics.

It’s time to rebuild the Republican Party in the image of our Founding Fathers. It’s time to remember what we once had — and also what has been lost.

Stephen Reisman, Bluffton

On Herman Cain

I was disgusted by the obituary that your paper chose to publish for Herman Cain, the former businessman and 2012 Republican Party presidential candidate.

This is the time to revisit Cain’s many accomplishments and exemplary character, it is not the time to indulge in the type of slightly tempered character assassination that The Associated Press appeared to conduct in its obituary of Cain.

Regardless of which side you’re on politically, it is unacceptable to use a man’s obituary as an opportunity to take one last jab at him.

I certainly hope that The Associated Press never gets a chance to write my obituary.

Gretchen La Pour, Bluffton

This story was originally published August 3, 2020 at 3:55 PM.