Kenneth Watkins has been policing his hometown most of his adult life.
The Cedar Shoals High School graduate who went on to earn a criminal justice degree was hired by the former Athens Police Department in 1981. He stayed with the department through the consolidation of the city and county governments and now has many years under his belt as an Athens-Clarke County police sergeant.
Watkins held that rank back in 1999, when working the eastside morning watch on a cold Christmas day he'll never forget.
"The call volume was very excessive all night long," the officer recalled.
The supervisor was assisting at the scene of a turned-over vehicle in the northeastern part of the county when he had to respond a man who had an unknown problem at a homeless shelter.
"He was agitated, intoxicated and very difficult to understand," Watkins said.
The police sergeant had a rookie in training with him at the time, and after a while the officers were able to get the man to show him where the problem was occurring — his home on Atlanta Avenue.
"He told us that he was in the company of a female guest inside his home when another man came in and made him leave his home," Watkins recalled.
Still unsure of the situation, the supervisor and trainee went into the home and found a man and woman in bed.
"We suddenly saw a handgun on the bed and immediately drew our duty weapons," Watkins said.
Then there was a loud noise at the front door, and the brother of the man in bed with the woman barged in, yelling and cussing and asking the officers, "Why y'all trying to kill my brother?" Watkins said.
During the commotion the trainee bumped into his supervisor, causing Watkins to lose sight of the man near the handgun. The younger officer then said, "Sarge, it's time to go."
Watkins was able to get the brother of the man with the gun out of the house and onto the ground.
"We then took cover and waited for backup," he said.
It turned out that the man with the gun had raped the woman and held her hostage all day. The standoff was still going on when Watkins ended his shift and the suspect later somehow managed to escape, but eventually turned himself in.
Watkins has many stories from the police beat, but that one sticks in his mind because of the confusion and circumstances that could have resulted in a bad outcome.
The officer almost didn't even join the police force.
While studying criminal justice at Fort Valley State University, he seriously entertained the possibility of a career in corrections or with the juvenile justice system.
But after completing an internship with Peach County Juvenile Intake and while looking at various job opportunities, he was notified by the Athens Police Department that they accepted his application.
"I have enjoyed being a law enforcement officer since beginning my first day in the field on the midnight shift before going to the police academy," Watkins said.
"This occupation requires public trust at all times, whether on or off duty," he said. "As law enforcement officers, we have an obligation to protect and serve all citizens with dignity and respect. Working in law enforcement provides a wide range of services throughout the community."
He later earned a master's degree in criminal justice administration at Atlanta University.
Watkins met his future wife when she worked as a dispatcher for the Athens Police Department. Kenneth and Vennis Watkins have now been married 31 years.
While Vennis Watkins is a member of Sanders Grove Church in Hartwell, her husband is active at the Little Valley Baptist Church in Nicholson, where he is a deacon and teaches Sunday school.
Watkins enjoys participating in sporting events, going hiking, and various other physical fitness activities.
Maybe that's why the officer said that people are often surprised when they learn he is 57 years old.
"I am told that I looked much younger," he said.
The Athens native is old enough that while growing up he attended segregated schools through the sixth grade.
The police sergeant is well known in the community not just because his roots are here and from his three decades of service, but also from trying to have an impact on the lives of younger residents as a Drug Abuse Resistance Education instructor and giving drug and violence prevention lectures to various groups.
The officer feels that while he is contributing to the community through his service, he gets something in return.
"(I) interact with a variety of citizens, the fortunate and the less fortunate," Watkins said. "This creates a wide spectrum of knowledge and information that inspires me to improve my quality of life as well as helping others to do the same."
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