Fire Island & Great South Bay News (FIN): You are now known as the “Chief, Chief.” You are the Chief of the Ocean Beach Police Department, which you have been for a while, and as of last year, you became the Chief of the Ocean Beach Fire Department. I assume it’s rare in New York?
George Hesse (GH): It’s been done in Upstate communities. I purposely contacted some attorneys to find out if it was even legal because the question was on the floor: whether or not I could legally do both. There was some precedent, and both positions could be held.
FIN: Why did you want it?
GH: I swore when I joined the fire department that I would never be the chief, but now that I’m here and have a year under my belt, I feel much more comfortable with being the chief. I enjoy the work. I appreciate the men and women in the fire department. They’re great. They’re brothers and sisters. They work hard, and I work hard for them.
FIN: Are there days between the two that feel like too much?
GH: Sometimes, I’m not going to lie. There are days that it’s a bit exhausting, but I roll with the punches and get the job done.
FIN: You’ve been with the Ocean Beach Police for quite a while. When did you start?
GH: I’ve been with the police department for 31 years. I’ve been chief for 18, and I plan on staying for a few more years.
FIN: Do you still own a private security firm as well?
GH: I have a security company called East End Investigations and Security that I partner up with one of my friends, and I do a lot of consulting work with them. They run the business to avoid any possible conflict that may come up with Ocean Beach. Except for the consulting work, I usually stay hands-off.
FIN: Do you still do the Copcake cupcake business?
GH: I went on hiatus because of the work over here since Covid has really picked up, so I decided to put it aside for a little while. I hope to revisit it this off-season. I want to get back into it.
FIN: Please elaborate on how things have picked up since COVID.
GH: Well, as you know, with Covid and the fear of Covid and folks, we weren’t allowed to have crowds. Those couple of years were tough.
FIN: And new problems also arose. What about the situation with an influx of unchaperoned youths coming in?
GH: Well, yeah. I don’t know what made Ocean Beach so attractive to them because, other than the beach and the pizzeria, there’s not much for them to do. Last year was probably the worst with the kids. This year wasn’t as bad; things seem to have leveled off. I think some of the new protocols we implemented may have worked. And word got out that you can’t get away with those things around here anymore, especially the underage drinking.
FIN: Your two daughters, who are adult young women, have become first responders.
GH: I couldn’t be prouder of my girls. I get choked up when I talk about them. I’m so proud. They’re an integral part of my life. They grew up watching what I do and wanted to do it.
Lauren joined the fire department a few years back and became an EMT. She is now the rescue captain, taking over from Dale [Wycoff]. She also works at Suffolk County Fire Rescue as a 911 operator. It’s a tough job.
Then there’s Megan. Megan is following in my footsteps. She became a police officer last year. She graduated from the Police Academy and joined the OBPD. I call her the hammer because she is unafraid to do the job. She interacts well with the community, has joined the fire department, and is off probation as of July.
FIN: George, we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention that about 15 years ago. You were at a low point in your life, undergoing indictment by the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office.
GH: That was a unique situation, whether we want to call it political or a hatchet job on the police department. Everybody will have their belief on what happened. It was a difficult time in my life. It cost me monetarily and health-wise. But I stood my ground, and we ultimately prevailed. In hindsight, the DA’s office was in decline due to its own corruption. The three top guys who came after me, Chris McPartland, Jimmy Burke, and the DA himself [Thomas Spota], all went to jail for many things they did.
Ray Tierney left the DA’s office at the time, one of the reasons being my case. Now he is DA and doing a fantastic job. He had the honor of stepping away from my case, knowing it was not going anywhere. He even mentioned it after he was elected during his inaugural interview Newsday. He mentioned me by name and said that’s why he left the DA’s office.
FIN: You must have felt vindicated.
GH: It made me feel good. It was a tough time, but I stayed in it, and here I am. Every year, I succeed by being here and doing my job to the best of my ability.
