Myrtle Beach had inadequate police chief search

Recently, Myrtle Beach promoted a captain in the police department to be chief of police without seeking highly-qualified candidates from outside of this area.

City Manager John Peterson took exception to almost all of my criticisms. He said the new chief is looking at certification. The Commission on the Accreditation of Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) has been around since 1984 – for 33 years - and they are just now considering seeking certification.

The new police chief of police is just now considering this. Where has she been for her 20 years on the force?

As a captain, she surely was in a position to influence the management of the department. Peterson said if they selected a new chief from outside, it would take two years to get familiar with the department and Myrtle Beach. I am confident there are a number of police officers in the department who would assist a new chief from outside of the area.

Give credit to Horry County for looking toward the future instead of the status quo. They went for the best they could find, not a person who had been in the police department the longest.

Maybe the new chief is the best in the department, but I suspect there are better qualified candidates elsewhere. Of course we will not know since Peterson chose to not advertise the job.

Also, why has The Sun News not looked into the management of the MBPD and what appears to be a "good ole boys" approach to filling jobs?

This story was originally published July 22, 2017 at 10:19 AM with the headline "Myrtle Beach had inadequate police chief search."