[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 119 (Tuesday, September 14, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Page S10872]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   DELAWARE STATE POLICE SUPERINTENDENT COLONEL ALAN D. ELLINGSWORTH

 Mr. BIDEN. Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to 
Delaware's top police officer--the Superintendent of the Delaware State 
Police, Colonel Alan D. Ellingsworth.
  After one of the most distinguished careers in Delaware law 
enforcement history, Colonel Ellingsworth has retired following 24 
years of service with the Delaware State Police. His life as a police 
officer began on August 1, 1975, when he was assigned as a road trooper 
at Troop 6 in Prices Corner. Moving up the ranks quickly, he worked in 
every major unit, including criminal investigations, as the officer-in-
charge of the homicide unit and as a Troop Commander.
  In May, 1994, he was promoted to Superintendent, where he has been a 
true leader for the citizens of Delaware, and a true partner and friend 
to me.
  Mr. President, I want to mention something very near and dear to my 
heart, the 1994 Crime Law that I authored--it became a reality in 
Delaware thanks to Colonel Alan Ellingsworth. Under his leadership, the 
ranks of the Delaware State Police increased 10 percent, with a force 
of 525 officers today. With funding from the Crime Law, he not only put 
60 more police officers on our streets--he established effective 
``Community Policing'' units in Delaware's toughest neighborhoods. He 
personally tackled the drug problem in rural parts of Sussex and Kent 
Counties, creating new units to go into these poorer areas so that 
adult residents and their children knew the Delaware State Police were 
their friends and partners in ``taking back their neighborhoods.'' And 
he sent a strong message to drug dealers and criminals--get out and 
stay out. His officers arrested the drug dealers and users, and helped 
direct the neighborhood kids to Boys and Girls Clubs and other 
constructive, supervised activities. I've seen these officers at work 
in these communities--it is remarkable how residents trust them. 
Equally impressive are the results.
  His strategy has worked. Crime in Delaware is down 12 percent.
  But there's much more to his story. In another of his initiatives, he 
used Crime Law grants to put non-uniform police in every high school as 
Youth Resource Officers. Again, students get the message that, one, 
violence, bullying, drugs, gangs and guns will not be tolerated; and 
second, police are role models, coaches and mentors.
  Under Colonel Ellingsworth, the Delaware State Police have 
established Community Police sub-stations in shopping malls, local 
communities--even in a converted laundry room in an apartment complex 
in Georgetown, Delaware. The goal and message are simple: police need 
to be on the beat to help prevent and readily respond to crime.
  Colonel Ellingsworth's legacy to the Delaware State Police is even 
deeper than his accomplishments in reducing crime. The Delaware Crime 
Statistical Center is now state-of-the-art. The State's crime data is 
linked with the National Crime Information Center. Delaware's Sex 
Offender Registry was created under his watch and with his persistent 
doggedness that Delaware get this system implemented efficiently and 
effectively.
  During his tenure, Colonel Ellingsworth presided over the memorable 
75th Anniversary of the Delaware State Police and successfully pursued 
the fund-raising, building and dedication of the new Delaware State 
Police Museum.
  During his career, Colonel Ellingsworth has received numerous awards 
and commendations, including Trooper of the Year in 1979 and 1985-- In 
the history of the Delaware State Police, he is the only officer who 
has been named Trooper of the Year twice. He also has received three 
Superintendent's Citations, and he was selected as the Crime Stoppers' 
Detective of the Year.
  He is a 1988 graduate of the FBI's National Academy, and a 1987 
graduate of the Pennsylvania State University Police Executive 
Development Institute.
  As we like to say in Delaware, Colonel Ellingsworth is ``home 
grown.'' He was born in Sussex County, a 1972 graduate of Sussex 
Central High School, received his bachelor and master's degrees from 
Wilmington College, and now lives in Bear with his wife Ann Marie and 
their three daughters, Amanda, Lauren and Megan.
  Mr. President, it is my great privilege to honor Colonel Ellingsworth 
on his career as Delaware's top police officer. His officers are the 
first to say he has served as a real ``trooper's trooper.'' He has been 
an officer who is tough as nails when solving a heinous crime, yet he 
always could be counted on as a sensitive shoulder of support to 
families of officers killed or injured in the line of duty. I will miss 
his counsel and advice, and I wish him and his family Godspeed, good 
health and good fortune in the years ahead.

                          ____________________