On Friday, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) said goodbye to its longest-tenured employee when Sgt. Allen Henderson officially retired after nearly 37 years with the department.
Then just 19 years of age, Henderson began working for MCSO in December 1983 as one of the first hires made by then-Sheriff John Cary Bittick, who had just been elected to the position. Over the course of his distinguished career, Henderson’s talents ran the gamut from the radio dispatch room to criminal investigations, soaking up additional experience and knowledge along the way.
Current MCSO Sheriff Brad Freeman said of Henderson’s versatility: “Allen’s held almost every job up here. He was on patrol. He was an investigator. He worked the jail. He worked the radio room. He worked drugs. He’s just about done it all. Allen’s probably investigated everything from a hitchhiker to a homicide and been very successful at it too.”
Henderson grew up in Juliette, the oldest of three children of Doc and Joann Henderson. Doc Henderson operated a Forsyth barbershop while Joann Henderson was a stay-at-home mother. Henderson said he knew while he was still in high school that he wanted to pursue a career in law enforcement and upon graduating he did just that.
In what was then a small department with only about 18 deputies in rotation, Henderson started his career in the radio room until he was 21 when he was allowed to carry a service weapon. At that point, Henderson joined the patrol unit, where he worked his way up to sergeant. He stayed on patrol for more than a decade until 1998 when he became an investigator assigned to the Monroe County C.A.R.E. Cottage, which is MCSO’s victims’ services unit. Henderson then made his final career move about five years ago when he became a crime scene investigator. Along the way, Henderson has served in additional capacities, being a member of the MCSO S.W.A.T. (Special Weapons and Tactics) unit and as the department’s hostage negotiator.
Henderson said it seems as if the nationwide view of law enforcement officers has changed a good bit since he became a deputy in the early-1980s, saying there was more of an automatic respect for deputies than is seen today. However, in contrast, he noted that Monroe County citizens have always been supportive of their local Sheriff’s Office throughout his tenure.
Henderson said another big difference between then and now is the type of training offered to new deputies.
“What I’ve noticed is that training seemed to be a lot more tactical in the ‘80s,” Henderson said. “So law enforcement officers were a little bit more prepared to defend themselves. To me, it does seem to be less tactical, but sometimes I’m wondering if there’s a lack of preparation for something to happen. Back then, to deal with a violent person we weren’t afraid to do that. And today now it’s like, do we get support?”
Despite the dangerous nature of being a law enforcement officer, Henderson said he never really felt unsafe on the job. One reason is because when he was a patrol deputy, high-speed chases occurred less frequently than they do today, partially because deputies’ vehicles weren’t as high-powered as they are now.
“That was probably my most hated thing to get into was a chase,” Henderson said. “They weren’t that frequent back then, and we had nothing that would run that fast either.”
Freeman recalled one pursuit in which Henderson chased a vehicle that crashed at the I-75 rest area before ramming into Henderson’s vehicle. As the offender sped away, Freeman said he and other deputies initially slowed down to check on Henderson.
Freeman said, “The guy was starting to get away, and we heard Allen screaming on the radio, ‘Get him! Get him! Get him!’ We knew Allen was okay, so we kept going.”
Another memorable time from Henderson’s patrol career happened in 1994 when a once-a-century flood struck Monroe County. Henderson said he remembers rescuing the driver of a vehicle that had gotten swept off the road into a tree beside Smith Road due to raging flood waters. Down in Juliette, the Ocmulgee River had risen so high that it had flooded into downtown.
“I grew up in Juliette with the fishing and the river, so it was kind of normal, some of that,” Henderson said. “Getting out in a boat in flood waters, it felt like I was about to go fishing.”
Henderson recalled seeing homes floating down the Ocmulgee River and also made the unfortunate discovery that ant beds can float in water.
“I didn’t know that until that day. I got bit all over me,” Henderson said. “And we stayed wet so much. I didn’t even have uniforms after a while because the minute I went to work I was in water. I was soaked the whole week.”
Freeman recalled another memorable incident from Henderson’s patrol career when they were summoned to Juliette about a drunk man riding a horse. Freeman said the situation turned wacky when the horse fell to the ground.
“Allen went down there to get the drunk guy off the horse,” Freeman said with a laugh. “And when Allen went to grab the guy, he had to reach up and grab the horse’s bridle. And when Allen went to grab it, the horse kind of fell over. And everybody down in Juliette said Allen punched out a horse. The drunk fell off the horse, and Allen was able to arrest him. But all the people in Juliette said Allen could punch out a horse.”
After leaving the patrol division, Henderson moved to the C.A.R.E. Cottage, where he stayed for more than 15 years. During that time, Henderson estimated he made about 50 child molestation arrests and testified as the lead investigator in at least that many criminal trials. While Henderson said testifying on the witness stand was one of his least favorite things to do, he proudly stated that prosecutors had more victories in his cases than defeats.
Henderson also served as one of MCSO’s top murder and rape investigators. Among the high-profile murders Henderson helped solve in the last decade were the drug-related killing of a young Macon man on Zebulon Road in Monroe County in 2012 and a double homicide as a result of a gang-related robbery on Woods Road in 2013.
Henderson said of the Woods Road homicides, which eventually resulted in four separate convictions: “It was a whodunnit. We started that morning and didn’t have a clue who it was. It took about two or three days and then we got a break on a suspect.”
In another noteworthy 2013 incident, Henderson was the lead investigator in a burglary case that resulted in the defendant being sentenced to 20 years in prison. However, upon sentencing, the defendant darted out of the courthouse and engaged in a wild downtown Forsyth shootout with Monroe County deputies.
While serving as a hostage negotiator earlier in his career, Henderson witnessed perhaps his most notable up-close tragedy when a man involved in a car chase on Hwy. 87 committed suicide by shooting himself right in front of Henderson.
“It bothered me. It did,” Henderson said. “It was up off of Hwy. 87 almost to the Butts County line. They (deputies) had chased him, and he wrecked his car. He was in a lot of pain too, and then we found out later he had Hepatitis. I was close enough that his blood got on me. I had that checked, but after a while it turned out alright.”
Henderson said despite some of the unusual circumstances he encountered during his long career, he never had to fire his service weapon at a suspect.
“I’ve never had to shoot anybody,” Henderson said. “The most I’ve done is point it at people, and those I’ve pointed it at gave up. I think I had a bit of a size advantage on a lot of people.”
After nearly 37 years on the job, Henderson said he’s been looking forward for a while to a quiet retirement. Henderson, who has been married to wife Sherrill for nearly 17 years, said he and his wife are considering opening a breakfast restaurant in Forsyth. He said if they opt not to move forward with their business plans, they could instead decide to relocate to the North Georgia mountains.
Things won’t be too quiet around the Henderson home though because they have a huge family. In all, the Hendersons have 10 children, including five adopted children, in their blended family and their two youngest are still in high school. They have six boys, Jason, Ryan, Robbie, Nick, Tyler and Cody, and four girls, Kendra, Peyton, Taylor and Rachel. Henderson’s daughter Peyton is also a Monroe County Sheriff’s deputy.
Henderson said he plans to spend much of his newfound free time worshiping at his church, Sanctuary Baptist, but he said he will also try to get in more rounds of golf. Though he said he no longer does it as a hobby, Henderson is an accomplished karate student, having studied under the same instructor who taught Michael Brewster, the owner of Forsyth’s Okinawan Karate School.
“My biggest hobby used to be karate, but I’ve gotten too old for the karate,” Henderson said. “I’ve done over 20 years of karate. The biggest reason I did it is because I had somebody telling me to do the push-ups and the sit-ups, so it was like having a coach. I was real bad at going to a gym and keeping up with it on my own. But I could show up to karate class and there was somebody there that’s telling me to do these workouts.”
Henderson said the biggest thing he’ll miss about working at MCSO is the camaraderie with the deputies he works alongside. Freeman said the feeling is mutual in his department, saying Henderson’s knowledge and experience won’t be easily replaced.
“We’ve had a good friendship over the years,” Freeman said of Henderson. “He’s a fine officer and probably one of the most knowledgeable officers out there when it comes to things like search and seizure and search warrants and things like that. He’s just a great investigator.”
