NCPD Chief Reggie Burgess ponders mayoral run

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) – North Police Chief Reggie Burgess has announced he will run for mayor if current North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey does not seek re-election later this year.

Five years ago, the North Charleston native was sworn in as the city’s ninth police chief.

“I feel blessed to actually have the opportunity,” Burgess said, “in 2018, to a chief of police for the city that I grew up in.”

After an accomplished career as a football start at Morgan State University, Burgess joined the force as an NCPD officer in July 1989, and quickly rose through the ranks.

“My first promotion happened in 1992-1993,” he said, “I got promoted to corporal. And when I got promoted to corporal, I’m a college kid, so when they promoted me to corporal, I didn’t know what in the world that was.”

Burgess would soon catch on, and continued to climb the ladder with a focus on what he calls “community policing.”

“I’ve evolved into the person that I think that I need to be,” he said. “A person that cares about folks, a person that’s willing to listen to people and a person that’s willing to step up to deal with issues instead of running away from them.”

Now that he’s been North Charleston’s lead officer for five years, Burgess may look to continue serving the city in a different role.

“If the citizens of North Charleston want me to be the mayor,” Burgess said, “and Mayor Keith Summey does not run, Reggie Burgess will run.”

Burgess says he and his family take pride in being from North Charleston, and he’d be honored to have an opportunity to run for mayor in his hometown.

“I ride real hard,” he said, “and I grind real hard to serve and to protect my city that I grew up in. I love North Charleston, I simply do.”

News 2 reached out to Mayor Summey’s office for reaction to Chief Burgess’s comments, and we’re told that Mayor Summey has not made a decision on his future at this time.