Fifty years after taking his first oath with the Bridgeport Police Department, Randy Singleton still hasn’t figured out how to retire — or how to stop serving his hometown.
The Bridgeport mayor’s public service career has taken him from volunteer firefighter to police chief to city leader. At 74, he’s still happy to tackle the city’s challenges and opportunities.
“I was born in Bridgeport in 1950 — that’s a long time ago,” Singleton said. “I went through school here, graduated here in 1969. It’s just my town.”
Singleton’s first taste of public safety came as a teenager on the Bridgeport Volunteer Fire Department, decades before he presided over the BFD’s transition to a paid department. Riding those trucks, he learned the rewards of protecting his community — and the risks. A grassfire spiraling out of control off Farm Road 51 in Decatur left him with severe burns and a hospital stay.
He could’ve stopped there. Instead, he made public safety his career, securing a position to serve on the Bridgeport Police Department in 1975.
On Aug. 7, 2025, Singleton marked 50 years since he first raised his hand to serve and protect with BPD. That half-century includes more than one retirement — and more than one return to duty.
“It’s a career, but for me, it’s also a hobby,” Singleton said. “I enjoy it.”
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Singleton hasn’t spent his entire career in Bridgeport. Shortly after starting at BPD, he was tapped by newly elected Sheriff Rook Ramsey to serve as his chief deputy in 1977. Singleton was just 26.
That hire fulfilled a promise made decades earlier in the basement of the Wise County Courthouse, where Singleton’s father — a member of the famed Lost Battalion who spent three-and-a-half years as a prisoner of war — worked as the county’s first Veterans Services Officer.
“My dad’s office was in the courthouse basement. I grew up running up and down the stairs while he worked with veterans,” Singleton recalled. “When I was a little bitty kid, Rook Ramsey was talking to my dad and pulled his pistol out. He said, ‘Son, hold this.’ I remember how it felt. Then he told me, ‘When you can hold and point that thing, I’ll hire you as a deputy.’ I didn’t know that 20-some-odd years later, he actually would.”
After a brief return to BPD in 1978, Singleton received two job offers on the same day — one from Garland PD and one from Hurst PD. The proximity to Bridgeport and the opportunity for advancement made Hurst the clear choice.
Over the next 24 years, he rose through the ranks there, serving as assistant chief and accreditation manager before retiring in 2002. That was the first retirement that didn’t stick.
“A young man at Bridgeport PD told me they needed a good chief,” Singleton said. That young man was Steve Stanford, who would later succeed him.
Stanford said the city’s decision to hire Singleton from a field of 40 candidates was one of its most impactful to date. Over the years, he said he’s witnessed several moments behind closed doors that revealed both Singleton’s heart and the quiet qualities that set him apart.
One that still stands out came on BPD’s darkest day, when Sgt. Randy White was killed in the line of duty. Moments after returning to the station, a shaken group of officers gathered in the hallway. There, Singleton showed what Stanford called “true leadership” — offering clear direction to keep the team focused, while also providing compassion and assurance that everything was going to be OK.
“His impact on the city, to sum it up, would be priceless,” Stanford said. “His love for people is a challenge for all of us. The grace he shows and the love he has for Bridgeport challenge us to be better — to serve with professionalism and extraordinary commitment. That’s one of his favorite words, extraordinary. And I think it sums him up — the extra ounce of effort, the extra level of commitment to serve our community in the right way.”
Singleton officially returned for a third stint at BPD in December 2002, bringing back decades of lessons from Hurst. As chief, he pushed for accreditation, expanded the department and the level of professionalism expected from law enforcement in the city. When he handed the reins to Stanford in 2015, he again planned to retire for good.
But Singleton stayed involved, at the request of others. He led the city’s charter committee in securing home rule status, and when the measure passed, the late Fred Meyers encouraged him to run for mayor. He was elected in May 2016.
Over the last few decades, Singleton has led the city and its police department through crises and triumphs, overseeing major improvements to the water and wastewater treatment plants, regaining operation of those facilities, and tackling an ambitious slate of street projects — paving or partially paving more than 70 streets.
Looking ahead, he has one more project he hopes to see through: the Hub on Halsell, a years-long effort to turn an abandoned lot into a downtown park and gathering space.
“That’s something I can’t wait to see,” he said.
He’s still chewing on the decision to seek another term.
Whenever the day comes, Stanford said, he will have left the city and community in a better place.
“He’s taught all of us how to lead better. If you have a leader who loves the people he serves and embodies everything about servant leadership, it makes all of us better,” Stanford said.
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