Chief Deputy Jimmy Griffin demanded two things: ‘Professionalism, perfection’

Jimmy Griffin went to his final resting place Thursday at Fort Mitchell National Cemetery.

Many of those who worked for him at the Muscogee County Sheriff’s Office use just three words when asked to describe their former boss.

“A good man,” they all say.

We should all be fortunate enough for that to be our legacy.

If Jimmy Griffin was a good man, he was an even better law enforcement officer. Griffin, who died Monday at 73 following an illness, was a Marine who served two combat tours in Vietnam. He was forged by the Marine Corps and brought that discipline to the Sheriff’s Office where he worked more than 40 years before retiring in 2009.

Chief Deputy Troy Culpepper has followed Griffin’s path through the sheriff’s office from captain over investigations to the chief deputy’s job.

“He was the Chief,” Culpepper said. “He cared for his men and his family. To many of us, he was a father figure.”

Griffin’s career spanned four Muscogee County sheriffs. He was hired by Jack Rutledge and worked for the old county police force before consolidation. He rose through the ranks under Gene Hodge, sat at the right hand of Ralph Johnson. When Johnson was defeated by John Darr is 2008, Griffin retired with 41 years in the office.

He later came back as a bailiff in the Muscogee County court system, which placed him under Darr’s command.

That is a lot of institutional knowledge.

“He didn’t try and win any popularity contests,” Culpepper said. “He dealt with issues case by case, and people trusted his judgment. ... If you embarrassed the sheriff’s office, he didn’t put up with it.”

But he always groomed many of those in sheriff’s office leadership positions today.

Maj. Joe McCrea said it was Griffin who convinced Sheriff Hodge to take a chance on him as a young deputy.

“I would not be where I am today without him,” McCrea said. “Sheriff Hodge told him I was too wild and uncontrollable to be an investigator. Chief persuaded him to give me a chance. Then, he mentored me through the process.”

Randy Robertson, a retired sheriff’s office major who is now president of the Georgia Fraternal Order of Police, shares a similar story and respect for Griffin.

“He was the toughest boss I ever had — and he was the best boss I ever had,” Robertson said. “When I applied for the FBI Academy, he was the one who pushed for me to get that opportunity. There is no question in my mind, that he would have stepped in front of any of his men and taken a bullet for them.”

Never was Griffin’s steady leadership more evident than during what McCrea called the department’s “darkest days.” In December 2003, the Metro Narcotics Task Force and Muscogee County Sheriff's Office stopped and swarmed an SUV on I-185 believed to be part of a drug investigation. Deputy David Glisson shot and killed Kenneth Walker, one of the passengers, during that stop.

No drugs are guns were found in the vehicle, and the sheriff’s office and it practices were called into question.

“Chief Griffin was the rock during that time,” McCrea said. “He was the one who helped the rest of us maintain our focus while the department was dealing with all the negative publicity. We couldn’t comment because the case was under investigation by the GBI. So, he made sure we stayed focused on our jobs and not what was being said in public. We still had a job to do and he made sure we did it.”

Robertson agreed.

“He basically took over the department and ran it while Sheriff Johnson was dealing with the Kenneth Walker matter,” Robertson said.

Leading was just something Griffin did naturally, said Maj. Mike Massey.

“In a bad situation, there was no doubt who was in charge,” Massey said. “And that’s because he took charge.”

If you look around the sheriff’s office today, you can see the influence of Griffin and his four decades of service. The K-9 unit, the special response tactical team and the special operations were all developed under Griffin’s leadership. But it is more than the operational side.

Many of the leaders in today’s sheriff’s office were molded and tested under fire by Griffin.

“He was even keel, fair, paid attention to detail and took care of his people,” Massey said. “You always knew where you stood with him.”

Griffin only demanded two things of those who worked for him, Massey said.

“Professionalism and perfection,” Massey said.

Griffin’s boys, those he mentored through the years, had a nickname for him.

“We called him Big Daddy,” Culpepper said. “Now, we didn’t call him that to his face often. When we used it, we used it with love and respect. When we heard the news, someone sent a group text the other day that said, ‘I am sure going to miss Big Daddy.’ ”

That’s love and respect.

This story was originally published June 29, 2017 at 5:15 PM with the headline "Chief Deputy Jimmy Griffin demanded two things: ‘Professionalism, perfection’."