Howell named permanent police chief for Hoschton

Hoschton’s new permanent police chief is someone long familiar with the department.

Capt. Jeremy Howell was named the city’s permanent police chief on Monday after a two-week stint as acting police chief.

The change in the Hoschton force came after-then police chief Dave Hill resigned in May to become second-in-command of the Jefferson Police Department.

Howell, 36, has been with the Hoschton Police Department for more than six years. He also served in the Madison County Sheriff’s Office for four years and one year with the University of Georgia Police Department.

Howell’s introduction as soon-to-be police chief came at the Hoschton City Council meeting on Thursday. Prior to that, the city’s public safety committee met behind closed doors for an hour on May 12 to discuss personnel issues.

“In the executive session of the public safety committee meeting, we interviewed Captain Howell for the position of police chief,” said council member Richard Shepherd, chairman of the city’s public safety committee on Thursday. “He is acting police chief now.”

Howell was in attendance at the meeting and even commended the Hoschton Business Alliance on recent tasks before the announcement was made.

Shepherd felt confident that Howell would accept the position on Monday.

“We talked about Jeremy Howell’s future with the police department,” Shepherd about the closed-door session.

The discussion also centered on several other unsolicited applications for the job of police chief and finances involved, he added.