Officer found niche in community service

He was, for more than a decade, the face and voice of the Colleyville Police Department.

Officer Bill Hudgins retired in late March from nearly 38 years of police work, about 17 of them in Colleyville. His career comes to a close in the department's Training and Personnel Unit, but he created the Community Service Unit and served as public information officer for many years.

Hudgins had been a patrol officer in Colleyville for a little more than a year when the chief at the time asked him to start the Community Service Unit.

"It was one of the best career moves I've ever made in my life," said Hudgins, 61. "It gave me a chance to get into the community instead of guarding the community."

He spoke to civic groups, raised money for charities, gave talks to neighborhood and homeowners associations, attended public safety fairs — you name it, if the Colleyville PD needed a presence and safety information needed to be dispensed, Hudgins was there.

Besides the smaller talks, Hudgins said he helped with about 16 major events a year.

His policing career began in Duncanville, where he still lives. After 10 years at the police department there, Hudgins worked for Dallas County for 10 more and at another small department for five months before he started working for Colleyville.

During his time in Colleyville, he was on a monthly radio crime prevention talk show on KLUV that aired on Sunday mornings, a part of his job he particularly liked.

Hudgins said he was able to reach potentially millions of listeners with information about how to stay safe at home, in a vehicle, while traveling, how to prevent identity theft and more.

As he leaves, Hudgins said he would like to see someone restart Seniors in Law Enforcement Together, or SALT, in Colleyville. He worked with the group, but it dissolved in January for lack of leadership.

"We have an aging population," he said. "This is something we need to be involved in."'

Hudgins has spent the last few years training new officers. Many wash out.

He said only about five of every 100 applicants are hired, nationwide.

The number of recruits was down for many years, but has started to increase again, he said.

He noted that older people who grew up in the 1940s and '50s still tended to look up to officers, or at least defer to them.

But, "in the '70s and '80s people started losing respect for law enforcement," Hudgins said.

Everything changed after the 9-11 terrorist attacks.

"People needed to feel secure and the people you turn to are law enforcement," Hudgins said.

He also said former servicepeople returning from overseas and looking for police work have increased the numbers in recent years.

In all his years of police work, including many on patrol, Hudgins said he never had to fire his service weapon.

"I have not had to shoot anybody. I have not shot at anybody. I had to draw down on a few," he said.

Hudgins said he'll stay on reserve at the Colleyville Police Department and continue to help with training.

He also plans to keep riding with the with the Blue Knights law enforcement motorcycle club.