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Love Island USA<\/a> has another casting controversy<\/a> on its hands, but this time it\u2019s pretty much just coming from the mayor of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The upcoming eighth season of the show features a cop named Sean Reifel, and his former place of employment is not happy about his involvement. On Friday, the mayor of Bethlehem, J. William Reynolds, told local news outlet WHTM<\/a> that Reifel had resigned from his duties in order to go on the show less than a year after he was sworn in<\/a>. That choice, Reynolds said, has left his police department short-staffed and jilted: \u201cOur police department spent a lot of time training and we paid thousands of taxpayer dollars to send him to the police academy.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe are disappointed he left as we now have another vacancy in our department that is impossible to fill until next year,\u201d Reynolds said. \u201cI never thought I\u2019d see the day in America where reality-show participation wins out over being a police officer.\u201d<\/p>\n Reifel\u2019s former boss police chief Michelle Kott is also upset about the 29-year-old\u2019s resignation. He told local outlet The Morning Call, \u201cI love Sean, he\u2019s a good guy, he was a great officer, but I\u2019m disappointed.\u201d Kott explained that Reifel had to quit the force for good because a leave of absence is apparently not an option for someone who wants \u201c\u2018x\u2019 amount of weeks to go on a television show when everyone\u2019s hurting right now and overtime is being utilized to fill those gaps.\u201d He added: \u201cOfficers are getting burnt out. It\u2019s just a bad look to me.\u201d<\/p>\n Still, it seems like Reifel is unbothered and excited to take on the villa. In an introduction video posted to Instagram<\/a>, he identified himself as a police officer, noting that a few people in town have deemed him \u201cOfficer Sexy Pants.\u201d I\u2019m not sure how adept he is as a cop, but at the very least it\u2019s clear he keeps a consistent workout regimen. Maybe if he can make it to the end, the Bethlehem Police Department will forgive him?<\/p>\n Stay in touch.<\/p>\n The latest in style, self, culture, and power in your inbox.<\/p>\n Vox Media, LLC Terms and Privacy Notice<\/p>\n