Want to volunteer at the Bradenton Police Department? Here’s why you should

Retired and still have a professional skill set to offer? Not sure where to put those skills to good use? Just ask Judy Henshaw, who will celebrate her sixth anniversary volunteering with the Bradenton Police Department in February, and who was just named Volunteer of the Year.

“It’s worth it,” Henshaw said. “Even if it’s just two or three hours a week, it’s appreciated and that appreciation is always shown. We do a lot of the little things that may not seem important, but someone has to do it. An officer cannot do everything and there is always something that needs doing. We do a lot of interesting things here, too, and it’s very rewarding because it’s not just interacting with the officers, it’s interacting with the community every day.”

It started off as something to do for Henshaw, “Because I’m not a shuffleboard, bingo or bridge player type of person. I thought it was something I would enjoy, and I wasn’t wrong.”

Henshaw donated hundreds of hours of her time to the department in 2017 and during the past six years has become a member of the department’s family. And like any family, her “brothers and sisters” can do some teasing along the way.

“The officers are always pleasant and nice, but they tease the heck out of me,” she said. “But that’s all part of what makes it worth it and keeps me coming back and interacting with people and the officers. They are family.”

And there have been some family mishaps along the way. Henshaw was working with another volunteer moving uniforms from the station to a storage area underneath the stage at the auditorium. They thought they found the perfect spot to hang the uniforms, which turned out to be a small metal water pipe. As they were hanging the final batch of uniforms, the pipe burst.

“There have been some memories I’m not real fond of,” Henshaw said. “We flooded the whole freaking basement and the fire department had to come. I didn’t know where the uniforms were being hung, I was just bringing in the batches and as I was bringing the last batch in, a wall of water came out of that pipe that would have knocked me across the auditorium had it hit me. The volunteer panicked and ran. I kept saying please come back, but she never came back.”

While it happened several years ago, the story has become legend and a source of great entertainment within the department. She was mortified recalling the incident, but she loves the good-natured teasing that still goes on today.

There are better memories for her, however. There was a call from a woman to the police department’s non-emergency number about a bird pecking at her window and wanted the police to do something about it.

“I suggested covering her window with a blanket,” Henshaw said with a matter of fact tone. “I also told her to call animal control.”

But nothing beats the day Gov. Rick Scott visited BPD.

“I had made it clear to the chief that I wanted to shake his hand, so instead, they made me sit at the desk behind the glass,” she said. “He came back downstairs and I was let out. Now, they blame me for accosting the governor, but in reality he was the one who shook my hand. He asked me about the hurricane and if I was OK, then he hugged me twice. They will tell you I did the accosting, but it was the governor hugging me. It made me cry. I also cried when I flooded the basement, but that was for a different reason.”

Bradenton Police Chief Melanie Bevan said volunteers such as Henshaw and others are extremely important to the department.

“They have so much to offer and often times it’s their time,” Bevan said. “So often they come with professional experience we are lacking and I want to grow our volunteer program as large as we can. We have someone who does transcriptions and we save thousands and thousands of dollars on her volunteer hours alone.”

Lt. Jeremy Giddens said more volunteers are needed with a variety of skill sets, including clerical work, accounting backgrounds analytical skills and even helping assist with minor investigations.

“It frees up personnel and saves a number of dollars each year, but more importantly it provides a sense of family between the police department and our volunteers,” Giddens said.

To volunteer, call Sterling Brentnell, BPD background investigator, at 941-932-9367.

This story was originally published January 5, 2018 at 1:58 PM with the headline "Want to volunteer at the Bradenton Police Department? Here’s why you should."