Former Bluffton police chief gets 2nd chance. Price named Beaufort’s next top cop
The City of Beaufort named Stephenie Price, the former police chief of the Town of Bluffton, as the city’s next chief of police on Friday.
Price joined the Beaufort Police Department in February 2023 as deputy chief. Following the retirement Police Chief Dale McDorman in January, Price took the reigns as interim chief of the department.
Price was one of two finalists for the permanent job.
She led the Bluffton Police Department starting in October 2020 but resigned after less than two years.
Notably, this is the second time Price has been selected as a municipality’s chief of police while Scott Marshall, Beaufort’s city manager, was in an executive position. While he didn’t make the call to hire her in Bluffton, Marshall was deputy town manager when Price was hired then and interim town manager for part of her tenure.
“I’m certainly familiar with her time in Bluffton. Most of her time they overlapped with when I was there,” Marshall said. “However, I probably have a little more information than most. But, those are not my stories to tell, so I won’t go into detail. I would just say I know enough about the situation that I am comfortable with her being my police chief in the City of Beaufort.”
In her time as the Bluffton department’s chief, she faced challenges. A quarter of the 16 sworn officers resigned in her first 13 months on the job. She defended her efforts at retention and pointed to a national climate of law enforcement hardship as the reason for officers resigning or retiring.
Former Mayor Lisa Sulka said she found the resignations “very concerning” at the time. An outgoing officer blamed the turnover on a lack of transparency from Price and preferential treatment of certain officers, according to previous reporting.
In contrast, Beaufort says its department staffing levels have stabilized with fewer vacancies.
“I don’t think it is a coincidence that our recruitment is more effective now than then I’ve seen it in the city,” Marshall said.
Having been interim chief for four months, Price was able to point to successful initiatives she led while already helming the ship during the interview process. Specifically, there is the Safe Living Beaufort initiative, Marshall said.
Safe Living Beaufort saw the Beaufort Police Department set up substations at various apartment complexes in the city. The first three were at Spanish Trace Apartments, Cross Creek Apartments and Mossy Oaks Village. A fourth is planned for Garden Oaks Apartments in July.
Price will be sworn in as chief on Friday, May 31. She’ll be the city’s first female chief of police.
“I am profoundly grateful for the opportunity to serve as the chief of police for the City of Beaufort,” Price said in a news release. “My heartfelt thanks go out to the selection committee, city officials, and the community for their unwavering support and trust in our organization and in me.”
