More than 100 people turned out Thursday afternoon to offer well wishes to James City County Police Chief Emmett Harmon, who will complete his 34-year tenure with James City at the close of the year.
On Thursday, the county’s Law Enforcement Center played host to those who came to honor Harmon’s career. Despite there being far too few seats for the number of people at the ceremony, Harmon said it was important to him to be able to hold the ceremony in the building, somewhere he felt comfortable.
Harmon was the first police officer hired into James City County’s Police Department in 1979. Prior to settling in the county, he spent four years working as an officer in other localities in the state. In 2005, Harmon was promoted to chief.
Throughout Harmon’s life – not just his career moving up the ranks of the police department – he touched the lives of many men and women. That much was clear Thursday when a packed room of Harmon’s colleagues, friends and family offered up stories from their distant and not-so-distant pasts.
Officers currently working in and retired from the James City County Police Department praised their boss and told on-the-job stories that reached back to the days before Harmon began his career in law enforcement, stories similar to those from colleagues whose contacts with Harmon were less frequent but equally memorable.
Federal Bureau of Investigations agents drove into town from Quantico, U.S. Secret Service agents drove up from Norfolk and officers from localities around the state made their way to Thursday’s luncheon.
Before the ceremony, Harmon’s wife LaVerne looked proudly around at the many men, women and children who came to honor her husband.
“It’s just a testament to how well he has been respected as the chief of police and a citizen of James City County,” she said. “I think just looking around at all these people is amazing. It’s just amazing.”
While Harmon has served as police chief, he has remained a loving and devoted family man – to her, his children and his grandchildren. As a surprise for him, Harmon’s grandchildren started the ceremony by reciting the “Police Officer’s Prayer.”
Major Stephen Rubino reflected on Harmon’s service in an interview, saying, “Over the past 27 years I consider it an honor and a privilege to have served with him, for him, and consider him to be a mentor and a friend. It’s sad to see him go, but I’m happy for him and his family as he makes the transition to the next part of his life.”
Williamsburg Police Chief David Sloggie came to honor Harmon – a man Sloggie values as a great friend, who also happened to be a police officer. “He’s always been an excellent police officer, one we could depend on on the street,” Sloggie said.
Gerald Scheuer, resident agent in charge of the U.S. Secret Service in Norfolk recalled Jamestown 2007, a celebration for the 400th anniversary of Jamestown, and the coordination that was required between the local police departments and the Secret Service upon the arrival of the Queen of England and then-U.S. President George W. Bush and his vice president, Dick Cheney.
“It was a pleasure to work with Emmett and all the men and women of James City County,” Scheuer said.
After hearing from the many people who appreciated Harmon for his career role and his personality, Harmon took to the podium to thank the crowd. He said he really didn’t want a big fuss, so he decided on a luncheon but got more than he originally bargained for. Harmon told the crowd it had been a while before any of his officers were promoted to sergeant, and he hoped future internal promotions could move existing officers up in rank.
“It’s my retirement so I should be able to say what I want to say, so I want to say this: It is still my sincere hope that the next chief of police is an inside person … we’ve got a wonderful department here that’s loved by the community, we’ve got so many excellent officers … I’ve got my fingers crossed so we’ll wait and see how it goes.”
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