Town of Georgetown gets new police chief
The Town of Georgetown has named a new police chief, Chief Randall Hughes, and he has plans to change some of Georgetown’s biggest problems.
Chief Hughes, or RL, as he likes to go by is no stranger to law enforcement. After retiring as a major from the Delaware State Police after 24 years of service and a stint with the Department of Safety and Homeland Security, Chief Hughes is now in Georgetown.
His background, which included an undercover stint with a drug task force, has prepared Chief Hughes to tackle Georgetown’s heroin problem.
“So how do we go about attacking that. Some of the things we’ve done in the past, and I have been a part of law enforcement for a number of years, they haven’t worked,” Chief Hughes said about the area’s heroin problem. “So we got to do a better job of reaching out to our community, talking with our community, talking with our community partners, identifying those folks that are addicted to these drugs and then working with them.”
Local establishments in Georgetown, like the Classic Motel, are excited to work with Chief Hughes on improving public safety in the area.
Classic Motel employee, Mahipal Zala, knows the chief will come under fire from the public but that all he wants is for them “to do something good for Georgetown. “That’s it.”
Both police and the city have been working with Classic Motel, Chief Hughes told 47 ABC, to reduce the crime at the establishment. According to Chief Hughes from Jun 2014 to the end of the year police visited the motel 99 times. However since the beginning of this year police have only had to visit the motel 20 times.
Nonetheless, Chief Hughes said cracking down crime at the motel is still a priority.
“It’s an ongoing problem and we need to be aware of that and we stay engaged and communicate with the management. I think that’s going to be the key to our success and so we’re going to continue to do that,” Chief Hughes said. “I know this morning our detective, Det. Cordrey, was there this morning talking with management on a couple of cases and so we are aware of that. So knowing that, we need to pay attention.”
Part of working in Georgetown will require Chief Hughes to get used to communicating with the area’s large Hispanic population.
“I do not speak Spanish… yet,” Chief Hughes said. “I hope to be able to learn. I think we have plenty of folks that can help me learn Spanish. Will I ever be fluent I don’t know, but I look forward to that.”
Among the changes Chief Hughes has for the department he plans to get rid of the department’s three Humvees. Chief Hughes said the move would help financial costs for the station because it would cut the yearly maintenance fees for the military vehicles. The Humvees, Chief Hughes said, will go to other jurisdictions that are in more need of the durable four-wheel drive trucks.
Chief Hughes also plans to replace to the stations old beat down doors with new glass doors that would make the station seem more inviting to the public.
