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YPD chief to stay on through summer
Mayor to begin search for Hughes’ replacement
YOUNGSTOWN
The city has a police chief, but it’s also looking for a new top cop.
Police Chief Jimmy Hughes officially retired from the Youngstown Police Department, but he still will run the department at least through the end of summer.
Hughes informed Mayor Jay Williams and other city officials that he was retiring this week. The retirement became effective Friday.
Hughes, 58, has been a member of the Youngstown Police Department for 34 years. He was selected as police chief in January 2006.
The mayor asked the chief to remain in his position through the summer, and Hughes agreed to do so.
“This is going to be a very long summer, and I think it is important to maintain a certain level of continuity. I asked the chief to stay on until we get through this period, and he has graciously agreed to do that,” Williams said.
Hughes, in a press conference Friday, said he does not see the retirement as the end of his law- enforcement career, but he is required to retire from his current position.
“This is the time for retirement. It’s mandated and it’s the law for me to go. Retirement will eventually happen for us all,” the chief said. “I don’t think this is the end for me in law enforcement. This is in my blood. I love this.”
Hughes signed up in 2003 for a state retirement program — the Deferred Retirement Option Plan, known as DROP. The program allows police officers to accumulate a large lump sum of money for retirement, about $500,000 in the case of Hughes.
Those who sign up for the program have up to eight years to retire. If they continue working after eight years, those officers lose all that money.
The mayor said the search for a new chief will begin immediately. He said the search will be broad, looking at candidates from within the department as well as candidates from outside the area.
Williams did say Hughes has been a good police chief and made a difference during his time in the position. The mayor commented on the reduction in staff under Hughes and the drop in the city’s violent overall crime rate.
“In respect to being a police chief, he has made a difference. The Youngstown Police Department is doing more with less. Unequivocally he has made a difference,” the mayor said. “It’s a demanding position, and I can tell you from working with the chief this is a job that demands all of you.”
Williams said the city will save money during the summer months Hughes has agreed to stay on as chief.
Hughes’ $87,915 salary will not change, but the city will pay only the difference between his current salary and his pension. The mayor said it will amount to about a savings of a third on what the city is paying the chief.