{"id":206423,"date":"2026-05-30T18:53:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-30T18:53:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/206423\/"},"modified":"2026-05-30T18:53:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-30T18:53:10","slug":"ex-cop-sean-reifel-joins-love-island-usa-bethlehem-mayor-disappointed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/206423\/","title":{"rendered":"Ex-cop Sean Reifel joins Love Island USA. Bethlehem mayor disappointed"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Bethlehem police officer has left the force to join Peacock\u2019s reality dating show \u201cLove Island USA\u201d<\/a> for its new season premiering next week, disappointing the city\u2019s police chief and mayor.<\/p>\n

The streaming service announced the 12 cast members<\/a>, including former officer Sean Reifel, in a Thursday trailer<\/a> and blog post<\/a> for the show\u2019s eighth season. The announcement lists Reifel as an Easton resident.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not a model, not an actor. I\u2019m a police officer, actually,\u201d Reifel said in the trailer. \u201cYou could be having the worst day of your life and I\u2019ll just help you sift through that. The more thoughtful you are, I think that s\u2014 is so pretty. I love it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Morning Call has reached out to Reifel for comment through what appears to be\u00a0his Instagram account<\/a>, but received the following automated notification: \u201cThis account can\u2019t receive your message because they don\u2019t allow new message requests from everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reifel\u2019s final day with the department was May 20, Bethlehem Police Chief Michelle Kott said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love Sean, he\u2019s a good guy, he was a great officer, but I\u2019m disappointed,\u201d she said. \u201cJust because we work so incredibly hard to try to recruit the best people we can to be part of the Bethlehem Police Department.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kott said Reifel\u2019s departure puts the police department at 15 vacancies out of 152 positions, and that it\u2019s a lengthy timeline to fill them.<\/p>\n

The department is hiring five people in June before they go to the Allentown Police Academy in July. With graduation in December, 2-4 weeks of in-house training with Bethlehem staff and 12 weeks or more of field training, the chief said it will likely be a year from now before those officers can work on their own.<\/p>\n

When asked if Reifel could\u2019ve taken a temporary leave of absence for the show instead of resigning, the chief said the city doesn\u2019t approve leave for secondary work due to the risk of increasing overtime and officer burnout.<\/p>\n

\u201cDepartments across the country \u2026 are struggling to fill vacancies,\u201d she said. \u201cAt this time, I don\u2019t think there\u2019d be a department that would be willing to allow someone to leave for \u201cx\u201d amount of weeks to go on a television show when everyone\u2019s hurting right now and overtime is being utilized to fill those gaps. Officers are getting burnt out. It\u2019s just a bad look to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kott said the department does its its best to provide services to the community but that those vacancies still hurt.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been extremely difficult,\u201d Kott said. \u201cThere have been two positions from our community services division that I had to make the very hard decision to move out of community services to help with manpower issues that we were experiencing on patrol as well as our vice unit. So we are in a spot right now where we are able to fill those gaps to the best of our ability, but when it comes to sustainability, that\u2019s why we are working so hard with human resources and our professional standards division in trying to recruit officers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, Kott said she wishes Reifel the best, noting that he could apply again if he were interested in returning to the force.<\/p>\n

Bethlehem Mayor J. William Reynolds, who swore in Reifel to the police force during a ceremony last August<\/a>, similarly felt disappointed with the departure.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is America, people can do what they want, but from our mission as far as the city of Bethlehem is, it\u2019s to have a police department that is fully staffed, and we take that responsibility very seriously,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd we are disappointed when we invest in an individual with our time, our money, our resources and the opportunity cost to hire somebody else, and then they leave after [nine] months.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLove Island USA\u201d, according to the trailer\u2019s synopsis, \u201cfeatures a group of sexy singles on a search for love in a beautiful Fijian villa. Throughout their stay in a tropical oasis, Islanders will couple up to face brand new heart-racing challenges and bigger twists and turns than ever before. Temptations rise and drama ensues as new \u2018bombshells\u2019 arrive, forcing Islanders to decide if they want to remain with their current partners or recouple with someone new.\u201d<\/p>\n

The new season will premiere Tuesday and end with a $100,000 prize, according to the Peacock website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Love Island USA Season 8 cast reveal, what you need to know about Peacock\u2019s hit reality TV show<\/a><\/p>\n

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