City of Henderson announces Marcus W. Barrow as new Police Chief


Letter from City Manager Ray Griffin, Jr.:

It gives me great pleasure to advise you of my appointment of Marcus W. Barrow as the new Police Chief for the City of Henderson, effective Thursday, 19 December 2013.

Marcus, a native of Zebulon, NC, has served with the Henderson Police Department since 17 December 1998 and has steadily progressed through the ranks from Police Officer, Detective, Sergeant in Operations Division, Lieutenant in both Operations and Services divisions, Captain of both Services and Operations divisions and Interim Police Chief. He has distinguished himself throughout his career with the Police Department.

Chief Barrow has earned his AA in Criminal Justice Technology from Vance-Granville Community College and completed the AOMP public safety leadership program at NC State University. He will pursue completion of his BA degree.

Chief Barrow exhibited exceptional leadership and management abilities during his six and one half month tenure as the Interim Police Chief. It is to his credit he chose to be an “active and progressive Chief” in the Department rather than a “gatekeeper Chief”. He has been well received by the community as well as the Police Department’s personnel. I have the highest levels of confidence in him and he has my full support and trust.

The City of Henderson conducted a Mid—Atlantic region recruitment effort and received approximately 38 resumes. Five candidates from two states, North Carolina and Virginia, were invited to participate in the Poiice Chief Assessment Center conducted by The MAPS Group of Cary, NC. Ms. Rebecca Veazey, President, and Ms. Valiria Willis, Assessment Center Lead, conducted the Assessment Center for the City. Assessors were utilized to assist in the Assessment Center. Included in the assessors” group were law enforcement executives, city and county managers, human resources managers, representatives from the Henderson community and two representatives from the City Council. The Assessment Center process provided invaluable insights about the candidates and helped the City Manager narrow the selection process to its successful conclusion.

I am extremely proud of the performance of the Henderson Police Department’s Command Staff, officers, staff and Chief Barrow during this interim period. It is to their credit the day~to~day operations continued in a smooth, orderly and progressive fashion. I would be remiss to not recognize retired Chief Keith Sidwell’s role in ensuring continued professional leadership development of the command staff and officers during his tenure. It is to his credit leadership succession planning for the Police Department enabled it to not only operate smoothly during the interim period, but also to produce the new Police Chief.

I am confident Chief Barrow will serve the City of Henderson and its Police Department in an exemplary fashion. Without a doubt, he will lead it forward to higher levels of professionalism, integrity and effectiveness in its mission to serve and protect the citizens of Henderson.