Search for new police chief in Y’town should begin now

Youngstown’s top law enforce- ment officer, Jimmy Hughes, stands to pocket a half-million dollars when he cashes in his Deferred Retirement Option Plan fund next May. That should spur Mayor Jay Williams to immediately begin a national search for a new police chief. There’s no reason a highly qualified individual with experience in urban policing cannot be in place by the time of Hughes’ retirement.

City residents must not have to suffer the prospect of another high-ranking public employee double dipping, as would happen if the current police chief were permitted to stay on the job after he collected his $500,000 and his state pension. The creation of the Deferred Retirement Option Plan, which has made police officers and firefighters quite rich, is a testament to the political power the police and firefighter unions wielded in 2002 in the halls of the General Assembly in Columbus.

Mayor Williams, who appointed Hughes chief in January 2006, won’t say whether he will rehire the city’s top cop because his retirement hasn’t occurred. But we’ll say it: If Hughes takes the DROP, he’s gone.

Since it appears that his not doing so would mean the loss of the hundreds of thousands of dollars, Hughes will be going for the gold.

Despite his self-serving comments in a Vindicator interview, the city’s police department will not collapse if Hughes isn’t the chief.

In fact, the very argument Hughes makes for retaining him, namely that 12 to 15 high ranking police officers will be retiring this year through the DROP, can be used for replacing him: Someone with a fresh, outside perspective would be in a stronger position to reorganize the department than an insider.

What grade?

Mayor Williams looked within the ranks of the police department in tapping Hughes, and while he says there has been “measurable progress with him as chief,” it would be a surprise if the top cop received more than a C grade from many in the community.

While crime overall has declined in the past four years and 11 months, recent high-profile murders of innocent residents have city residents, especially in high-crime areas, up in arms.

No one is questioning Hughes’ commitment to make Youngstown safe, but with crime still unacceptably high, we believe it’s time for a change.

The mayor should begin a national search for a new chief — now.