GEORGETOWN, DE — There is controversy in Georgetown over possibly relocating the memorials honoring fallen Patrolman Chad Spicer and Chief Harvey Gregg Jr., though no official plans have been made.
The Spicer memorial, which stood in The Circle since May 2011, featured Spicer’s image and detailed his life and the events surrounding his death in the line of duty. In November 2023, a vehicle crashed into the memorial, knocking it over. The site remains empty.
Spicer, 29, was fatally shot on Sept. 1, 2009, while attempting to stop a vehicle involved in a shooting. His killer, Derrick Powell, is serving a life sentence in prison.
Another memorial in The Circle—dedicated to former Georgetown Police Chief Harvey Gregg Jr.—could also be moved. Gregg died of a heart attack while directing traffic in 1998. He had served with the Georgetown Police Department for 30 years.
Georgetown Mayor Bill West confirmed there were conversations about constructing a dedicated memorial park near the town’s new police station, though he emphasized no decisions have been made.
But Spicer’s mother, Ruth Ann Spicer, says The Circle is where the tribute belongs.
“He would talk to you and speak to you whether he knew you or not, but he was here to help people in any way that he could, and I don’t want people to forget that,” she said.
She believes the monument should be repositioned further inside The Circle and out of the path of traffic, and protected further, but not moved to the new station.
“He even rode them [the roads] before he became a police officer, because we always lived in Georgetown. He loved his town and he wanted to serve and protect,” she said.
The crash that damaged the statue brought back painful memories.
“It was like everything was happening all over again, it was like Chad being hit. It was very, very hard on the heart.”
Local business owner Charlie Koskey, who works across from the memorial site, supports the idea of relocating it for protection.
“I think it would be a great way to create a space for those who have served the community. To protect those monuments, because they’ve already been damaged—and to protect them in the future.”
Spicer said one of her top priorities is preserving the memorial so her granddaughter, Aubrey, can continue to see her father remembered in the heart of the town he served.