Beaufort Police Department Chief Price Threatens Top Officers with a Polygraph

Not long after Chief Stephenie Price joined the Beaufort Police Department as Assistant Chief in January 2023, she called 9 top-ranking officers into a conference room.  She threatened to put them on a polygraph (lie-detector machine) and make them all targets of an internal investigation.  A FOIA request and questions from the Beaufort Gazette prompted these threats.  Beaufort Insider was able to confirm this incident with two officers who were in the room.

When a rape kit came back from the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) lab in early 2023 with the identity of a suspect, it was discovered that the rest of the case evidence was gone. It had been disposed of.  Not only could the rape case not be prosecuted, but a much larger issue of missing evidence became apparent. Thousands of pieces of evidence from the Beaufort PD’s storage had apparently been thrown away without proper documentation.  Much of the disposed evidence was for dismissed or dropped cases, but at least one rape victim will not see justice. Beaufort Insider continues to investigate the missing evidence and will report when more information is available.

Someone with inside knowledge about the rape case and missing evidence leaked the information to the Beaufort Gazette.  When the Beaufort Gazette submitted a FOIA request and started asking questions, Beaufort PD leadership, specifically Assistant Chief Stephenie Price reacted by threatening her own officers.  Assuming that someone in the Investigations Division had leaked the unfavorable information, Assistant Chief Price reacted by making a widespread threat of forcing all of the departments’ investigators and two other top officers to submit to a polygraph exam.  Price’s goal was to plug the leak through intimidation. 

According to the 1988 federal Employee Polygraph Protection Act, it is not illegal for a local government agency to require employees to submit to a polygraph. However, 25 states, not including South Carolina, have laws that prohibit any employer from the use of polygraph exams.  While Assistant Chief Price’s threats were not illegal, multiple current and former city employees confirmed for the Beaufort Insider that using polygraph tests has not occurred in the recent past, but references to putting officers “on the box”, a nickname for the polygraph machine, was frequently used as a form of intimidation by leadership in the police department. 

Chief Price has a purported history of negative and harassing behavior toward employees during her time as Police Chief in Bluffton.  There is currently a civil court case pending against Chief Price for creating a hostile work environment in Bluffton.

Beaufort Insider is continuing to investigate many aspects of this case to include seeking input from city management.  We will continue to keep you updated as more information becomes available.