REHOBOTH BEACH — When the throngs of tourists return to Rehoboth Beach this summer, a new captain of the city’s beach patrol will be watching over them.

Officials announced last week that Jeffrey Giles, a retired Delaware State Police trooper, has taken the position and begun his preparations for summer 2021.

“Mr. Giles brings a wealth of knowledge and experience,” City Manager Sharon Lynn said in a press release. “He will be a great asset to our entire team. We look forward to working with him.”

The new captain, a Wilmington native, has lots of experience in the realms of aquatic recreation and law enforcement, but his expertise lies where those two worlds overlap.

“The world for me always came back to being in the water,” Mr. Giles said.
He spent 27 years on DSP’s Scuba Unit, and for the final 10 years of his tenure, he was the commanding officer for the unit’s dive team. Additionally, for the last six years of his career with DSP, Mr. Giles was in charge of the maritime unit. There, he helped local, state and federal agencies investigate maritime crimes.

But before his storied law enforcement career, Mr. Giles spent five adolescent summers as a lifeguard on the force he’s now going to run.

“Rehoboth Beach meant so much to me when I was on the beach patrol,” he said. “I had so many mentors (and) teachers. I met my best friends.”

These fond memories are why Mr. Giles decided to retire to the seaside municipality seven years ago, he said.

“I want to continue that tradition for the lifeguards now,” he said. “This should be the greatest time of their life. It is the most satisfying job.”

But Mr. Giles’ more recent contributions to the Rehoboth community also helped him secure the position.

“We’ve worked (together) on different events, such as the Polar Bear Plunge, where he was on the scuba team,” Rehoboth Beach Police Chief Keith Banks said.

For that Special Olympics charity event, swimmers traditionally flock to Rehoboth Beach’s boardwalk each February. There, participants don bikinis, Speedos and swim caps and plunge into the freezing water, where Mr. Giles and a team of other scuba experts stand by to rescue anyone in need.

This year’s Plunge, to have taken place Sunday, has been moved to the virtual realm, due to the pandemic.

Chief Banks said he has known Mr. Giles professionally for years and is confident they will work together well. He said his department will look to support the beach patrol in making sure all the rules are followed as tourists have fun in the sun.

“They are the front lines,” Chief Banks said. “If they have any issues or concerns, they will ring us.”

If lifeguards see open containers of alcohol, lit cigarettes or tents on the beach, they are they are the first to enforce the beach’s rules.

Chief Banks said that “as long as (beachgoers) are cooperative, we never get contacted.”

This season, the Rehoboth Beach Patrol will technically exist under the chief and the rest of the police department’s purview. In the past, the captain of the patrol had reported directly to the city manager. Now, Mr. Giles will report to the chief.

The chief made it very clear that the beach patrol will remain under Mr. Giles’ command and that he has no intention of meddling in the new hire’s affairs.

“I’m just here as an assistant,” Chief Banks said. “I’m not taking over hiring or training or anything like that. That’s all up to the captain.”

This shift is at least part of the reason former beach patrol Capt. Kent Buckson recently left his position after 21 years.

At a city Board of Commissioners’ meeting Jan. 12, leadership discussed legislation that would give the city manager the right to delegate supervisory authority over all public safety matters, including the beach patrol. Currently, the city manager already has the right to delegate this authority over every aspect of the city’s public safety apparatus except for the beach patrol.

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Ms. Lynn brought the team under the authority of Chief Banks, who ultimately answers to her. In the fall, she announced that the arrangement would continue, to Mr. Buckson’s chagrin.

“I can’t say there were any disagreements,” the chief said of his relationship with Mr. Buckson. “The one topic is, he just feels it should stay under the city manager. Me and him didn’t have any specific issues or beef.”

In October and November, hearings were held to sort out whether Ms. Lynn was overstepping her authority, but in December, the proposed change to the charter was first introduced and remains under discussion.

This was when Mr. Buckson quit as the captain. Not long after, he was hired at North Shores, a private Rehoboth Beach community where he will be the beach and pool club manager. Neither Mr. Buckson nor North Shores could be reached for comment.

Despite the question of the city manager’s authority, Mr. Giles is looking forward to his first summer back on the beach patrol. Right now, his focus is on hiring and training the season’s lifeguards.

“I want to have so many resumes to look through that we’re going to get the top people,” he said.

Those interested in the position can send applications to Mr. Giles or inquire about more information at jgiles@cityofrehoboth.com.