Hatley's Policy: See, Hear No Evil

Hatley's Policy: See, Hear No Evil

My ultimate point is this: Things sometimes go wrong in any organization. That's a given. But once those things are uncovered, it is the responsibility of the top leaders to fix things and re-establish the kind of trust public safety departments must have with the public. Angrily pointing your finger at the whistle blower is not real leadership.

Reader response below, including from retired police officers.

Mr Bailey,

Always great to read your articles, I suspect that the tip of the iceberg of improper behavior is being uncovered, KEEP ON DIGGING. The citizens of NMB depend on the press to give us accurate information on what the empowered and elected officials are really doing.

It is clear that there are many problems, please keep us abreast of what is being done. Good Luck and please continue your great reporting, I have been here 26 years and you are by far the best reporter we have ever had!

 

Dear Mr. Bailey,

Once again you have not been afraid to address serious issues concerning our communities.  I wrote a letter to the editor about this subject recently and our thoughts were dead on.  In the military you follow the chain of command, as I am sure you do in law enforcement.  Mr. Fisher did his part when he voiced his concerns to his superiors.  Mayor Hatley's effort to throw the blame to Mr. Fisher says a lot about the leadership of North Myrtle Beach.   If the shoe fits, wear it.  I think the Mayor needs to put on her shoes.   

Respectfully,

Gerald Moore

 

Indeed, a policeman's lot is not a happy one.　 Ask Randy Fisher.　 Ask any cop.　 Ask me.　 I relocated to Myrtle Beach after a 25 year career with 3 law enforcement agencies, one of those for 21 years.　 I know what Randy is going through and the tough decision he had to make.　 You see, contrary to what you see on tv and the movies, the stress of police work lays not with dealing with bad guys, but with your own employer.　 Ask any cop.　 Ask him/her what instances can give way to the phrase, "career ender?"　 Brutality?　 A questionable shooting?　 Nah.　 Try "not being a team player."　 Try "he second guesses decisions."　 Try "he has a bad attitude."　 Ask any cop.　 They all know the game of being targeted for dismissal or a career enhancing transfer to midnight shifts for subjective reasons and having the higher ups use picky, minor department regulations violations as justifying it.

Randy Fisher is smart.　 He saw the dark clouds forming regarding his future employment.　 He felt he had done nothing wrong.　 He chose the doomsday weapon of secret recordings.　 Folks tend to do things like that when placed in a corner.　 And now the doomsday weapon has been executed and there are members of North Myrtle Beach's finest sweating hollow points.

And now there is the finger-pointing.　 The honorable NMB Mayor Hatley and her city manager are crying, "Mr. Fisher failed to bring these comments or issues to light." Randy Fisher was expected to go outside department channels and go right to the City Council?　 Hey, Ms. Mayor, ever see the movie "Serpico?"　 Talk about a "career ender."　 Ask any cop what would happen to a righteous officer going straight to the mayor and council to report improprieties.　 Wake up, your Honor.　 Do you have an amnesty hotline in place for government irregularities to be reported anonymously?　 I doubt it. Good 'ol boys don't seem to embrace something like that.　 Too bad.　 Accountability seems to make for better government services.

What really makes this fiasco interesting is that some good, honest, hard-working men and women of the North Myrtle Beach Police Department may be nodding their heads at these allegations but dare not come forward to substantiate or repudiate Mr. Fisher's allegations.　 Odds are that the off-the-record scuttlebutt within the department is to keep one's mouth shut.　 Too bad.　 We may never know the entire truth but remember the old saying of, "Where there's smoke there must be some fire."

For the citizenry, please let me be the first to suggest that bad treatment of police employees often leads to the dreaded, terrible, sacrilegious formations of - dare I say the word - UNIONS.　 You know.　 An entity employees join for protection from employer abuses.　 It wouldn't surprise me if the AFL-CIO's police union section is reading every article the Sun News prints about this matter.　 If half of what Mr. Fisher has alleged has occurred and if I was one of NMB's finest, sign me up!!

Yes, a policemen's lot is not a happy one.　 Ask Randy Fisher.　 But what I am asking of him via this writing is this: "Randy, can I buy you a beer?　 I think I like you.　 You're righteous."　 That's a rare trait these days.

Don Ingerski

Right on !  My wife has written Mayor Hatley TWICE since she was first elected and never received a response.  The letters were not earth shaking. One was about having the police department enforcing golf cart rules as she had witnessed a cart full of kids on 11th ave. north almost have an accident as it was driven by a child who could not have been more than eight. The other was about hiring a high school student to sweep Main Street sidewalks as they do in Market Common, and downtown Myrtle Beach. She copied the City Manager each time and he never responded either.  We can understand why a police office is reluctant to bring a problem he or she sees to a supervisor.   Great article but I fear you will get the same treatment as Lt. Fischer from our mayor. Dan Ryan

Isaac -

Excellent analysis on NMB debacle. I told my wife it's amazing a mayor doesn't understand, or evidently respect the integrity of "chain of command." Law enforcement/military live or die by it. It appears to me Fisher adhered to SOP, but was shrugged off. Tim

Mr. Bailey

Congratulations on an outstanding article today reference Marilyn Hatley’s refusal to accept any responsibility for the mess that has become her town.  You were right on target and exposed her for not only being a head in the sand hypocrite, but one who professes to have an “open door” and then proceeds to kill any messenger who dares to walk through it.  Great job!

Dave

 

Mr Bailey,

Always great to read your articles, I suspect that the tip of the iceberg of improper behavior is being uncovered, KEEP ON DIGGING. The citizens of NMB depend on the press to give us accurate information on what the empowered and elected officials are really doing.

It is clear that there are many problems, please keep us abreast of what is being done. Good Luck and please continue your great reporting, I have been here 26 years and you are by far the best reporter we have ever had!

 

Dear Mr. Bailey,

Once again you have not been afraid to address serious issues concerning our communities.  I wrote a letter to the editor about this subject recently and our thoughts were dead on.  In the military you follow the chain of command, as I am sure you do in law enforcement.  Mr. Fisher did his part when he voiced his concerns to his superiors.  Mayor Hatley's effort to throw the blame to Mr. Fisher says a lot about the leadership of North Myrtle Beach.   If the shoe fits, wear it.  I think the Mayor needs to put on her shoes.   

Respectfully,

Gerald Moore

 

Indeed, a policeman's lot is not a happy one.　 Ask Randy Fisher.　 Ask any cop.　 Ask me.　 I relocated to Myrtle Beach after a 25 year career with 3 law enforcement agencies, one of those for 21 years.　 I know what Randy is going through and the tough decision he had to make.　 You see, contrary to what you see on tv and the movies, the stress of police work lays not with dealing with bad guys, but with your own employer.　 Ask any cop.　 Ask him/her what instances can give way to the phrase, "career ender?"　 Brutality?　 A questionable shooting?　 Nah.　 Try "not being a team player."　 Try "he second guesses decisions."　 Try "he has a bad attitude."　 Ask any cop.　 They all know the game of being targeted for dismissal or a career enhancing transfer to midnight shifts for subjective reasons and having the higher ups use picky, minor department regulations violations as justifying it.

Randy Fisher is smart.　 He saw the dark clouds forming regarding his future employment.　 He felt he had done nothing wrong.　 He chose the doomsday weapon of secret recordings.　 Folks tend to do things like that when placed in a corner.　 And now the doomsday weapon has been executed and there are members of North Myrtle Beach's finest sweating hollow points.

And now there is the finger-pointing.　 The honorable NMB Mayor Hatley and her city manager are crying, "Mr. Fisher failed to bring these comments or issues to light." Randy Fisher was expected to go outside department channels and go right to the City Council?　 Hey, Ms. Mayor, ever see the movie "Serpico?"　 Talk about a "career ender."　 Ask any cop what would happen to a righteous officer going straight to the mayor and council to report improprieties.　 Wake up, your Honor.　 Do you have an amnesty hotline in place for government irregularities to be reported anonymously?　 I doubt it. Good 'ol boys don't seem to embrace something like that.　 Too bad.　 Accountability seems to make for better government services.

What really makes this fiasco interesting is that some good, honest, hard-working men and women of the North Myrtle Beach Police Department may be nodding their heads at these allegations but dare not come forward to substantiate or repudiate Mr. Fisher's allegations.　 Odds are that the off-the-record scuttlebutt within the department is to keep one's mouth shut.　 Too bad.　 We may never know the entire truth but remember the old saying of, "Where there's smoke there must be some fire."

For the citizenry, please let me be the first to suggest that bad treatment of police employees often leads to the dreaded, terrible, sacrilegious formations of - dare I say the word - UNIONS.　 You know.　 An entity employees join for protection from employer abuses.　 It wouldn't surprise me if the AFL-CIO's police union section is reading every article the Sun News prints about this matter.　 If half of what Mr. Fisher has alleged has occurred and if I was one of NMB's finest, sign me up!!

Yes, a policemen's lot is not a happy one.　 Ask Randy Fisher.　 But what I am asking of him via this writing is this: "Randy, can I buy you a beer?　 I think I like you.　 You're righteous."　 That's a rare trait these days.

Don Ingerski

Right on !  My wife has written Mayor Hatley TWICE since she was first elected and never received a response.  The letters were not earth shaking. One was about having the police department enforcing golf cart rules as she had witnessed a cart full of kids on 11th ave. north almost have an accident as it was driven by a child who could not have been more than eight. The other was about hiring a high school student to sweep Main Street sidewalks as they do in Market Common, and downtown Myrtle Beach. She copied the City Manager each time and he never responded either.  We can understand why a police office is reluctant to bring a problem he or she sees to a supervisor.   Great article but I fear you will get the same treatment as Lt. Fischer from our mayor. Dan Ryan

Isaac -

Excellent analysis on NMB debacle. I told my wife it's amazing a mayor doesn't understand, or evidently respect the integrity of "chain of command." Law enforcement/military live or die by it. It appears to me Fisher adhered to SOP, but was shrugged off. Tim

Mr. Bailey

Congratulations on an outstanding article today reference Marilyn Hatley’s refusal to accept any responsibility for the mess that has become her town.  You were right on target and exposed her for not only being a head in the sand hypocrite, but one who professes to have an “open door” and then proceeds to kill any messenger who dares to walk through it.  Great job!

Dave