Maryland brothers serve on same state police road patrol shift
NORTH EAST, Md. (AP) — Law enforcement officers are part of a brotherhood.
The bond that Maryland State Police troopers Matthew and David Hughes have with each other, however, is much deeper than that because they are, in fact, brothers — the kind linked by the same parents and the same blood.
It doesn't stop there, though, because both work at the same place, the North East Barrack. Making their situation rarer still (and possibly unique): the Hughes Brothers have served on the same road patrol crew since June.
MSP Lt. Jeffrey Kirschner, commander of the North East Barrack, isn't sure if two brothers ever served on the same shift. But he has never heard of one during his 20 years of service with the agency.
"I've known of brothers who were troopers, but assigned to different barracks. We had a set of twins once who were assigned to the Bel Air Barrack at the same time, but not on the same shift," Kirschner recalled, before commenting, "I cannot say if this is unique, but I am positive that it is a very rare thing to have brothers working the same shift — if it has even happened at all."
Dave, 27, arrived at the North East Barrack in September 2021, and Matt, 28, joined him there on June 1. The Hughes Brothers sought North East Barrack assignments because they wanted to be closer to their parents, Joseph Jr. and Denise, who live in Pennsylvania.
After Matt's arrival at that barrack, Kirschner asked the brothers if they would be interested in working on the same crew, which appealed to them.
"I said, 'Well, let's try it and see how it goes'," Kirschner said. "Both are very well-rounded troopers. They work very well together, and they are leaders in their group."
SIBLING RIVALRY
Born 18 months apart, Dave and Matt can be best described as buddies who happen to be brothers.
They spent their childhood together in Delaware County (Pa.) building tree forts; riding bicycles, dirt bikes and ATVs; taking karate classes; and playing backyard and organized sports, including baseball and football at Chichester (Pa.) High School, from which Matt graduated in 2011 and Dave in 2013.
At the outset of the brothers patrolling together, Matt sometimes joked with fellow troopers, "There's going to be a domestic every night. It's either going to be an actual call for a domestic disturbance or it's going to be a domestic between us in the back wash bay."
That joke was predicated on the fact that the Hughes Brothers have been competing with each other since they were boys.
"It's always friendly," Dave said, before flashing a smile and qualifying, "Well, it gets heated sometimes."
Both recalled, for example, when they were pitted against each other in a boxing match during the self-defense portion of physical training while going through MSP's intense, six-month-long police academy in 2019.
"Our classmates were really excited. They were like, 'Oh, the Hughes Brothers are going to box each other'," Matt said. "Anyway, early on, Dave hit me pretty good. I was dazed. But then I came back and got him pretty good and gave him a shiner. He had a shiner for about a week and he got some friendly teasing from the others because of it."
Without missing a beat, Dave piggybacked on Matt's story and remarked, "You're lucky they stopped it at that point because I would have gotten you back."
They both chuckled.
"There's no ill will," Dave reassured.
They emphasized that their brotherly competition only makes each one that much better. The bottom line, according to the Hughes Brothers, is this: They support each other in all of their endeavors.
"He had prior police training. Academically, he helped me out a lot in the academy," Dave said of Matt.
Dave, meanwhile, pushed Matt in the physical fitness part of academy training.
"He's pretty strong in the gym. He can bench press 405 pounds," Matt boasted on behalf of Dave.
PATHS TO POLICE WORK
On June 29, 2006, the Hughes Brothers' older sister, Reenea, died after a long battle with drug addiction. She was 19.
Reenea's surviving fraternal twin, Joseph Hughes III, now 35, went on to serve as an officer with the Chester (Pa.) Township Police Department, where he holds the rank of corporal and where he has earned the Officer of the Year distinction multiple times.
So all three Hughes brothers are law enforcement officers.
Their other sister, Danielle Hughes, 32, has served in the U.S. Coast Guard for approximately 10 years and is stationed in Washington, D.C., where she works directly under Gen. Mark A. Milley, who, as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is the nation's highest ranking military officer.
(Danielle also is a master chef who won her latest award, 2022 American Culinary Federation (ACF) Chef of the Year, during a recent national competition in Las Vegas.)
Referring to the professions that he and his siblings chose, Matt explained, "After seeing our sister lose her battle to drug addiction, we wanted to make a difference. That's what led us into this type of work, I think."
It was Joseph, however, who directly influenced Matt's decision to pursue a career in law enforcement.
Matt was a freshman general studies student at Delaware (Pa.) County Community College in 2012 when, during the spring semester, Joseph invited him on a ride-along.
"It was the funnest ride-along ever. There was a foot chase. They recovered a gun. I'm an adrenaline junkie, so I loved it," Matt said. "I dropped out of college the following week because I knew I wanted to be a police officer. I was happy with my choice. My parents also were happy and supportive."
(The Hughes Brothers' mother works as a medical assistant and their father worked at a power plant, before he wound up on disability because of a work-related chemical poisoning.)
Matt was 20 when he graduated from Delaware (Pa.) County Municipal Police Academy. Because he was one year too young to serve as a law enforcement officer, Matt bided his time working as a correctional officer at a Pennsylvania detention center.
After turning 21, Matt served one-year stints as a law enforcement officer with three municipal police forces in Pennsylvania. Then he joined the Philadelphia City Police Department, after successfully completing a second police academy.
"They were all stepping stones," Matt said.
As for Dave, he joined the U.S. Coast Guard after high school graduation and got his own taste of police work during his four-year stint in the military.
Patrolling the Gulf of Mexico and the waters off the coast of Florida and points south on a 270-foot cutter, Dave and his crew mates targeted drug smugglers. The crew made numerous major busts, including two in which they confiscated more than 1,000 pounds of cocaine and made arrests.
The idea of joining the Maryland State Police came to Dave while on active duty in Ocean City.
"MSP has a water unit and they work out of Ocean City. We'd hang out sometimes and eat lunch together, and they kind of recruited us military police guys," said Dave, who had received 12 weeks of Coast Guard police training in Yorktown, Va.
So he and Matt applied in 2017, starting the agency's involved vetting process. "The goal was always for us to work for the state police someday," Matt said.
After graduating from MSP's police academy in July 2019, Matt was assigned to the Salisbury Barrack and Dave was assigned to the Easton Barrack.
Dave transferred to the North East Barrack in January, after learning about an opening. Matt did likewise in June.
"It was always the goal to come here because the North East Barrack is the busiest full-service barrack in the state police. We don't want to be bored," Matt said, adding, "Plus, this puts us closer to our family."
MENTAL TELEPATHY
There is a certain degree of mental telepathy between the Hughes Brothers.
"If he's on a call, I can tell how he feels by the way his voice sounds over the radio," Matt said, prompting Dave to say he possesses the same intuition regarding Matt.
Matt and Dave are very similar in their approach to the job.
"They are both tremendous at what they do. They're extremely knowledgeable of the job and the law. They're also very passionate and energetic. They take a lot fewer breaks than everyone else," listed Tfc. Paul Proctor, a four-year MSP veteran who works on their shift.
Matt and Dave also are gifted communicators.
"They're down to earth. They speak to all people on a human level. Because of how well they interact with people, they can defuse a potentially dangerous situation before it can escalate," Proctor said, summarizing, "Anyone in the community who talks with the Hughes Brothers always sees police in a much brighter, more positive light after interacting with them."
Matt and Dave work well as a team, too. There are times when one brother makes a traffic stop and the other arrives as backup. Working in tandem, the brothers — through observation and conversations with the occupants — develop probable cause to search the vehicle.
"We feed off of each other very well. We pick up on each other's signs," Matt summarized. "We are very proactive, and we're always looking to get into something. We are passionate about this job, and there is nothing else we would rather do."
Both aspire to someday serve on an MSP special unit that focuses on drug interdiction, which, in light of their older sister losing her battle with addiction 16 years ago, they view as a job of great importance.
Although the Hughes Brothers work well together, a friendly rivalry still exists between them.
"Dave was the 2020 Trooper of the Year at the Easton Barrack. In 2021, I was Trooper of the Year at the Salisbury Barrack," Matt outlined, before grinning and commenting, "Now we're competing to see who will be the 2022 North East Barrack Trooper of the Year."
(© Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
