STILL SERVING
Benton PD employee celebrates 40 years
Later this month, Cissy Brown will celebrate 40 years of service working for the Benton Police Department, but she doesn’t have any plans of retiring soon.
“I still enjoy the excitement of the job and I’m not ready to walk off from these people,” she said. “I still have a sense when I lay down my head at night that I have helped one person.
Former Saline County Sheriff Judy Pridgen, who served as Brown’s mentor, once told her “you’ll wake up one day and know it’s the time to retire.
“I haven’t woke up to that yet,” Brown said.
During her career, Brown has
worked under nine full-time chiefs and countless mayors.
“I can truly say I’ll have a good friendship with all of them (chiefs,)” she said.
Brown’s career started shortly after she graduated from Benton High School in 1979.
Because of family friends, who were involved in law enforcement, Brown was always interested in criminal justice.
The late Chief Bill Porter invited her to shadow some of the dispatchers for about two months before he offered a job.
“He stopped by my house and told me to go to City Hall and get signed up. I was going to work on B Shift that day,” she said. “I loved doing that – that excitement.”
Because Benton police officers at the time were at their own jail, Brown’s job involved more than just being a dispatcher.
“I was responsible for inmates – preparing their meals, running breathalyzer tests,” she said.
Seven years later in 1986, she was given the opportunity to move to the Records Department and she’s been there ever since. In 1989, she was promoted to the role of office manager.
Brown said her best memories came at the time when the Benton Police Department was located on Walnut Street.
She commended the various chiefs that have given her opportunities throughout her career, especially her first chief.
“Bill Porter, being my first chief, he took a chance on an 18-year-old kid … I strive every day to make him proud,” Brown said.
The Records Department deals with the large amount of paperwork involved in police work.
“To protect and serve, that’s the motto of police. They get to protect and we get to serve,” Brown joked.
“There is a tremendous amount of paperwork that goes into the daily duties of a police officer,” she said.
All of the paperwork has to be kept in an orderly fashion.
The work of the Records Department is tedious and hands-on, she said.
“It’s more than just sticking papers in a filing cabinet,” she said.
During her long career in the department, she has seen many improvements in the Records Departments, including the switch from typewriters to the computer and the addition of an automated records management system.
“I pride our department on having one of the best records departments,” she said.
Brown said the Benton Police Department is a family.
“I have officers that have allowed me to love their children … we celebrate births. We celebrate deaths together. We’re there for each other,” she said.
Since she has lost all of her immediate family, her coworkers have become her family.
“I know all I have to do is pick up the phone and call,” she said.
The department now has a second generation officer whose father had previously worked as a Benton police officer.
“I held that officer as a child in my lap,” Brown said.
She has become a mother figure to many of the officers.
“If they need a knot jerked in them, I’ll be the first one to do it,” she said. “They are special to me … they make coming to work a joy.”
After officers have responded to bad accident or left a hard scene, Brown said she greets them with a hug.
Along with helping officers, Brown said she enjoys participating in community events.
Over time, Brown said she has helped two to three generations of people. All in all, she hopes people think that she “treated them right and was there to help.”
“I’m just blessed to have an opportunity to be here,” Brown said.