Perdue names new homeland director, reorganizes law enforcement

ATLANTA - Governor-elect Sonny Perdue has named a retired Georgia State Patrol major as the state&#39;s new homeland security director. <br> <br> Perdue has chosen Bill Hitchens Junior as the point person for all homeland security issues in the state. Hitchens replaces Robert Hightower, who was appointed by outgoing Governor Roy Barnes. <br> <br> Perdue also announced Thursday an organizational reshuffling for two top state law enforcement agencies. <br> <br> Perdue says there will no longer be an overall state Department of Public Safety. Instead, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the Georgia State Patrol now will be independent of each other. They will report to Perdue&#39;s chief operating officer, Jim Lientz. <br> <br> The governor-elect says he&#39;ll be keeping several top law enforcement officials from the Barnes administration. Those include GBI&#39;s current acting director Vernon Keenan, State Patrol commander George Ellis and the state&#39;s adjutant general Major General David Poythress.