MT. JULIET, Tenn. (WTVF) — Chief James Hambrick is preparing to do something he hasn't done in 28 years and counting on Friday.
He will turn in his badge.
"How did you know it was time to walk away?" I asked.
"In my spirit, I’ve made no bones about it that I am a man that’s led by faith," Hambrick said.
And ironically it was his faith that kept him from pursuing the job in the first place. Hambrick said he's always been called to serve and felt he was doing that as the night manager at the Mt. Juliet Mapco many years ago. Police officers were often his customers.
"They would come in, gas up have good conversation and they would say we feel like you would be a good officer," Hambrick said. "Let us talk to the chief about getting you on and I’d say, ‘Man I gotta pray about that.'"
At the time, he didn't know if policing and serving went hand in hand but continued prodding. It would eventually land him a job as a dispatcher for the city of Mt. Juliet. One promotion led to another and in 2012 Hambrick became the city's top cop — overseeing a growing town and police department.
Construction on the department's new headquarters is underway, a larger two-story building that will put everyone under one roof come 2025.
It's one thing he won't see to completion. But what he has seen — even shepherded — is a culture shift within policing centered on community and service.
It is a theology of sorts he will carry with him to his next job, as head of campus security for Trevecca University.
"As far as what we’ve done and how we’ve been able to do it. This is what we say, 'Carrie, in the church — and I would hear the old saints say — they would say, I wouldn’t take nothing from my journey now. So I’m like that. God has been good and we’ve been blessed."
It's truly the small things that add up to a great day - and Warrick in Lebanon is having a big impact. His familiar face is becoming a staple in one part of the community and inspiring closer connection in the simplest way. Enjoy his warm personality! You may even feel inclined to wave to a stranger today, too.
-Rebecca Schleicher
