I am saddened to advise you that Police Chief Keith L. Sidwell has announced his intention to retire from the City of Henderson, effective 31 May 2013.
Chief Sidweil was appointed as Police Chief by former City Manager Jerry Moss in November 2006, and started work with the City on 10 January 2007. He has performed in an exemplary manner throughout his entire tenure and has helped develop the Police Department into a stronger and more professional department than it previously was. He has striven to form effective partnerships with many groups within the community, including the media, property owners and managers, utility and service providers, and community watch organizations. Additionally, he has partnered with Federal and State law enforcement agencies to effectively prosecute career criminals in Federal Court in order to ensure they would be taken off the streets in order to make our community safer. Through all of these efforts and the hard work of the Chief and Henderson Police Officers and personnel, the city’s crime rate has decreased in each of the previous three years.
I have worked with many police chiefs since I began my career in city management. Please rest assured that Chief Sidwell is one of the strongest, most professional and effective Chiefs with whom I have ever worked. His many contributions to the City of Henderson, Henderson Police Department and citizens are acknowledged and greatly appreciated. He leaves big shoes to fill and he will be missed by many. It is with a great deal of respect and admiration for Chief Sidweil that I wish him godspeed.
Now begins the task of transition. I will make an interim appointment in the near future. Additionaily, I will develop a strategy for the recruitment and selection process for the next Chief.
There must be a story behind this sad announcement. Chief Sidwell has been doing a yeoman’s job trying to stem the tide of crime in Henderson. I will miss knowing he is in charge of the Police Department.
I wish him all the best. He is too young to retire so I hope he has a plan for the future in any case.
Rumor is that the “criminals” of Henderson threw a BIG party last night after getting word of Sidwell’s retirement announcement. Never in the history of the city of Henderson has there ever been a Police Chief that did what is expected of him as far as getting rid of the “career criminals”. He has gotten more people into the Federal Prison System that anyone before him. He knew how to take the scum off the streets of Henderson and give them a 85% stay at one of the many Federal Pens throughout the U.S.A. Now that he is not going to continue working you will see the crime….drugs….murders….prostitution…..etc. increase to levels like you have never seen before.
The reason I hold him in such high regards is b/c he didn’t mind telling the self-proclaimed reverends dale/miles that they would get the same treatment as everyone else b/c they were no more special than anyone else. Remember when Dale threw a big fuss b/c the Chief wouldn’t bow down to him and his racial tactics? Now that was a classic example of how he ran his dept. and he didn’t just collapse in the face of adversity like most do. Remember when Petey White didn’t like the fact that the City Police were patrolling I-85 in its drug interdiction program? Did Sidwell back down? NOPE!!!!! Henderson needs more men of character and not men/women who do whatever the puppet master asks them to do. Too many YES men/women in Vance County and you will defintely miss this Chief of Police!!!!!! Watch….and See!!!!
Well said Deception–Unfortunately I believe you are correct that Henderson has difficult days ahead. We won’t easily find a chief who will not cave to pressure.
Check out the large articles in a recent Dispatch showing where bails were lowered and cases continued
On the same page the article where career criminals were off to Federal Prison–quite a difference
.
The Chief made a difference and the courts, in some cases in my opinion let him down after the hours spent on apprehending the “suspects”.
Well it seems as if it has already started to ‘rear its ugly head’ as I heard this a.m. in the grocery store that a SHOOTING took place over in Lincoln Heights on Saturday night. Not sure if anyone was injured but one thing is for sure…………a bullet has no name!!! Congratulations criminals….you can come back out and PLAY now!!!
Forget the part about whether or not someone was injured…….was just told that an African American Male was the victim of the gunshots and is now deceased!!! Here we go again!!!
On a different note……..does anyone know why one of HPD’s Detectives(A.Simmons) wasn’t working for a while? Was there something going on between him and the Chief or was he on another assignment? Just repeating what I was told at the local Hotel…NoTel!!! This is 3rd party info. so it may or may not be anything to it but it was “interesting” that the ‘news’ came out soon after the Chief announced his retirement……..The plot thickens!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Maybe A.Simmins went undercover
I guess some people in Henderson don’t want a Police Chief, they want a baby sitter.
And what do you know………….an individual who has a business that thrives on making $$$$ off of the criminal element has the audacity to go to the local paper and bad-mouth the Police Chief!!! Like my elders before me used to say……”It’s better to be thought a FOOL…..than to open your mouth and remove all doubt”!! Coffey needs to worry about being a city councilwoman and understand that she does not have the authority to hire/fire anyone other than the city manager/city clerk/city atty and that can’t be done w/o enough votes from other members. How “interesting” that she would talk about CRIME,etc. when it is the reason her business keeps its doors open. I haven’t seen anyone not charged with a crime go to a bail bondman to give them $$$ out of the kindness of their hearts. How cowardly an act this was to run to the paper and bring up an EEOC complaint? I told you in the earlier posts who the officer was in question!!!! Coffey…do the citizens of Henderson a favor and sit down somewhere!!!
Could not agree more. Sounded more personal than anything factual ( most of which the article refutes). Should have been a letter to the editor instead of an article. Whatever happened to just acknowledging a persons’ accomplishments when they retire or resign, such as the manager did. No reason for further comment or disdain.
There seems to be many a smoke screen blurring our vision of the police chief’s retirement. First and largest of the smoke screens is the local paper’s denouncement of a city council women’s view. Can anyone recall another single local topic the paper used that much ink and space to refute or support? The paper doth protest too much, methinks. Next is the city manager singing great praise for the police chief’s leadership yet is unable to single out one officer the chief groomed for advancement. There is the police chief himself. A senior manager in good standing generally signals their intention to retire early enough to avoid a vacancy at the top. Not our police chief, his announced resignation is all but immediate leaving a leadership vacuum in the police department that the city manager has publically stated will take up to 8 months to fill. Taken collectively there may be something in Ms. Coffey’s view that the rush to persecute crowed can not or will not allow to be revealed.
Regardless it should make for an interesting city council meeting tonight. Deception do you intend to attend the meeting?
Left Fielder….probably not going to attend a meeting that is nothing more than a dog & pony show. If you or someone you happen to see the disgruntled councilwoman do the public a favor and ask her why she “threw the Chief under the bus” for not speaking at the event at E.M. Rollins back in Febuary. Last time I checked…and I did check b/c I was there…..her Sheriff didn’t open his mouth to the audience either!! She needs to grind her ax elsewhere and if she is going to bring up the EEOC claim….why not get Simmons’ side of the story? She said he would be willing to shed light on the situation. Oh……let me guess? When it really is a PERSONNEL ISSUE….the LAW PROHIBITS such dialogue!!!
Let’s see–City Manager said he will appoint an interin chief–hmm- Do we remember the School Board appointed an interin superintendent a while back–then spent $30,000.00 for search–ignored all candidates and made the interim the superintendent.
In my opinion the Chief search will also follow the same expensive and idiotic process–.
If my memory serves me correct the last time(maybe time before) when someone retired or moved on they appointed an interim Chief by the name of Tony Clark. He did a very good job during his time as interim Chief but unfortunately I think he may have retired at this point. LUCKY HIM!!!! Henderson and the reverse racism that is so obvious will not be satisfied until the HPD has an African American chosen as the Chief of Police. The councilwoman’s words basically said the same thing as she mentions that “certain groups of people” only feel comfortable coming to talk to her about issues,etc. Why say “certain groups” and call it what it is…..the Black Community. Maybe it’s b/c as a caller to WIZS 1450 Town Talk Show yesterday a caller mentioned that during the first 5 minutes of ever conversing with coffey she made it known that she was a Life Long Member of the NAACP!!!! Nuff said……..you reap what you sow and until you can get these young thug/gangbangers off the streets slanging & stealing the violence will continue. Get YOUR HOUSE in order before you try to solve Henderson/Vance’s ills.
Here’s a statistic that can’t be disputed(even by coffey)……out of the last 10 murders within the city of Henderson that involved a Black being murdered the person for the murder has also been Black. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure out that society is losing(and may have already lost) an entire generation of young black males…….and looking at today Daily Dispatch…females too as a female was charged with Murder in the the Judkins Murder over in N.Henderson 5-6 months ago. WAKE UP!!!!! or get your head out of the sand. Stop playing politricks and do something other than slander a retiring Police Chief that has gotten a 90+ approval rating from the 100 or so people that I spoke with including blacks/whites/hispanics. You see coffey….I’m not scared to go into those parts that you so frequently say you visit either. Hope your service was good Sunday b/c our Pastor taught about honoring thy Mother & Father. And if you don’t have one or the other due to circumstances try to do the best you can with what you have. That doesn’t mean running around shooting up things……drugs or guns!!!!!!
Also, for those who may have forgotten or are new to the Henderson area this particular councilwoman ran against a former attorney who she couldn’t sucessfully beat until he got into trouble with his Law Office and was eventually disbarred. I think she lost to him 2 or 3 times prior but after he got into the troubles with his Law Office the seat at the council horseshoe was basically given to her. Not by anything in particular she did but rather by default to a certain degree.
Whodathunkit? I read in the local Dispatch that the infamous Geraldine Champion or ‘community activist’ as I have heard her described also took a JAB at the retiring Police Chief. Unless things have changed the HPD has a procedure in order to be able to speak with the Chief and he doesn’t care who you are or who you claim to be the procedures are followed. I had an incident that required the filing of a complaint against a HPD Officer and after getting the ‘formal’ we have checked into it and due to personnel laws we can’t discuss the outcome of our investigation. Well I wasn’t quite satisfied and I called and told them I wanted to sit down with the Chief and put a face to my complaint. As professional as they claim he isn’t he called me back within 24 hours and we met the following morning. I left the meeting feeling discouraged that the city I live in didn’t have this guy as our Police Chief but I was amazed at just how professional he carried himself. He doesn’t put up with the B.S. from anyone…definitely not his officers. So like I said earlier when the HPD hires an African American Chief then the critics can’t shut up b/c what will be the excuse then when the young bucks continue to run around the Henderson/Vance area are continue to shoot at each other like they are in the Wild Wild West? Then who will they blame?
Deception I see you are out. Was it just another 90 day stay on Breckenridge Street or were you down in Butner? Good to have you back. Your fiery nonsensical writings have been missing from this blog. Glad to know your library card still works.
I believe we have already had a AA Police Chief . Think he did OK job
Anonymous-you know good and well I ain’t @ no library. You know I gave your mama the $$$ to pay her computer payment @ Rent-A-Center and she took the money and went and bought Powerball Tickets!!! Stop playing like you didn’t know…..if you would help her out a lil’ more I wouldn’t have to keep shelling out all my $$$ to help her!!!! You know she love herself some YOUTUBE!!!!!