Principal turned Stafford sheriff’s spokesman retires after 40 years

Three days before he would call it quits, Bill Kennedy sat behind his desk at the Stafford County Sheriff’s Office.

He reflected on his nearly 10 years serving as the public face of the department. It was his job to tell the story of the deputies and their interactions with the public — good and bad.

When there was a missing person, Kennedy was there giving information on how the public could help find them. A homicide? You’d see him at the scene updating reporters on the investigation.

On better days he was in charge of the department’s annual awards ceremony that recognized deputies, call center and administrative staff for professionalism, fairness, and integrity — the stated core values of the department.

Every day, Kennedy updated a telephone “media line” with crime reports from the night before. He would field phone calls from a barrage of curious reporters — this one included — demanding to know more about a case and, if he was unable to answer, just what it was he wasn’t saying.

He updated the website, social media, compiled the department’s annual crime report, and took calls from residents seeking information.

To boot, it was a part-time job.

“I’m 62, and I’ve had a chance to deal with a lot of people. These young people that work here are so dedicated to service, said Kennedy. “This job is a calling, just like teaching is a calling. If you go into law enforcement for the big bucks you are going to be disappointed pretty quickly.”

His days as the sheriff’s public information officer made him a recognizable face to the media and its viewers. But it was his time in the classroom as a teacher and principal that made Kennedy a household name in the community.

Before coming the sheriff’s office, he worked for Stafford County Pubilc Schools for 30 years. He was a teacher for 10 years, an assistant principal for two, and a schoolmaster for 18 — first at Ferry Farm Elementary School and later as the first principal at Winding Creek Elementary School.

“He was always involved with children,” said Winding Creek Elementary School Assistant Principal Flavia Hall. “He was not a principal that would stay in his office all day long he was a principal in the classroom, he was principal in the cafeteria, he was a principal on the bus ramp and all the children knew him as Mr. Kennedy.”

Hall said Kennedy had a reputation for being firm with children, too, but also caring. He was a leader who set an example first by showing concern for underachieving children, and then by helping them make better choices.

Working as a principal has how he met then Capt. Charlie Jett, who would later be elected sheriff in 2000. Kennedy started a DARE program at Ferry Farm, and the sheriff’s deputies were regular guests at the school.

When Kennedy retired from the school division in 2006, he taught public relations classes for educators looking to earn their Masters Degree. Jett called and asked him to lunch at Ruby Tuesday at Aquia Town Center, where he talk about a newly created position at the department — public information officer.

“He asked about the type of qualities a person had to have to fill the role, and then he told me about the job,” Kennedy explained. “I told him to let me know when he posted the position because I think I’d be interested in the job.”

Jett hired him on the spot. He had been retired from the school division just three days.

Kennedy described Jett — who retired in December 2015 — as a modest man who was able to work with anyone.

“He was one of the best leaders I ever worked for. Sheriff Jett has a real ability to deal with everybody. It doesn’t matter what position you are in life,” said Kennedy.

Over the years, Kennedy said he saw a side of law enforcement you don’t see on TV. He recalled stories of deputies stopping in the snow to help change an elderly couple’s tire, or deputies buying a bus ticket for someone who otherwise couldn’t afford to get back to their home state of Florida, or stopping by a house to cut someone’s lawn.

Stafford County changed since he started his professional career in 1976 in what was a “one stoplight town.” During his tenure as PIO, the demands of that job changed, too, as the county’s population has increased.

“We are always subject to notification. There an expectation in the community you serve to provide information in a timely manner,” he explained. “The side job that I picked up is, I’m the photographer for the sheriff’s office. Someone came and wanted to know who the private photographer for the sheriff is, well, that’s me.”

Kennedy met his wife of 40 years, June, while working in the school division. She, too, was a teacher. Both plan to spend more time with their four grandchildren, two daughters, and two son-in-laws.

“I was a principal for 18 years and spent a lot of nights and weekends at school with other people’s children, which is part of the job, and my kids were great about it…my wife was great about it, but now we get to do more time spending time with our children while I still can,” said Kennedy.

Current Stafford County Sheriff David Decatur said Kennedy set the standard at the department for public information officer. Decatur is, reluctantly, searching for a full-time replacement.

When he retired the frist time, it was bittersweet. Kennedy says his second retirement will be his last.

“He had this routine on the last day of school where would play ‘What a Wonderful World’ by Louis Armstrong..it had had us all in tears,” said Hall. “We’re glad for him and his family.”

Kennedy left his office for the last time at noon Friday, Jan. 8, 2016.