After more than two decades, friends Wayne Davis and Sandy Hines are working together again for the same agency.
Hines, a nearly 24-year veteran with the Martinsville City Police Department, began his tenure Monday with the Henry County Sheriff’s Office.
“The city has been my home for almost 24 years,” Hines said, but after the position became open, and Davis offered him the job, Hines said he felt it was time for a change.
“I really thought about it. I talked to my wife about it, and after that, I decided to make that change,” Hines said. “It was just time for a change.”
As the newest member of Sheriff Davis’s administrative team, Hines will serve as the Captain of Investigations, with duties which will include Criminal Investigations, VICE Investigations, School Resource and Internal Affairs Investigations.
Hines said he expects to be busier in his new post “just for the simple fact that there’s more land” area and a bigger population in the county than in the city.
But “I’m looking forward to a new challenge and a change,” said Hines.
Both Hines and Davis said they have been friends for decades.
“We have been friends for over 25 years. We started this career together, and went to the police academy together,” Davis said. “We actually worked together at the One Stop Cellular store in Liberty Fair Mall” before either of them embarked on their respective law enforcement careers.
“Sheriff Davis got me interested in law enforcement,” Hines recalled, and added that Davis participated in a ride-along program offered at the time at the Henry County Sheriff’s Office.
“On Friday and Saturday nights, when a lot of people were out partying,” Davis rode-along with a Henry County deputy, “and I said, let me try that too,” Hines said.
Davis put Hines in touch with then-Henry County Sheriff’s Capt. Wayne Dodson, who oversaw the ride-along program, Hines said.
“You’d ride along with a deputy all night,” as the officers responded to calls for service. “I really enjoyed that. It was interesting to me,” Hines said, adding that he later, in 2000, was hired at the city police department.
During his career in public service with the police department, Hines served in multiple positions, including Patrol, Patrol Sergeant, Patrol Lieutenant, Criminal Investigations, Criminal Investigations Lieutenant, ATF Task Force Officer, Captain of the Patrol Division, and Captain of the Investigations Division. He also served as the SWAT Team Commander and Honor Guard Commander.
Hines earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Liberty University and an Associate of Applied Science Degree in Administration of Justice from Patrick and Henry Community College. He has also achieved the FBI LEEDA Trilogy: Supervisory, Command, and Executive Leadership, The (VACP) Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police: Institute for Leadership in Changing Times, and the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF): Senior Management Institute for Police.
“He’s a good fit,” Davis said of Hines. “I’m blessed to have him” working in the sheriff’s office.
Davis, who is serving his first term as sheriff, began as a patrol officer with the county, then served a couple of years as general assignment investigator, continued on to Virginia Forensic Science Academy School for Crime Scene Technology, focusing on major cases and violent crimes.
In 2009, he transferred back to patrol as a sergeant and in 2013 was promoted to lieutenant. In 2014, he began serving as lieutenant of criminal investigations – a post he held for two years. His next promotion was in 2016, to captain of criminal investigations, which oversees criminal and vice investigations units, street crimes unit, and the school resource unit.
Davis spent 21 years on the SWAT team, up until the day he became sheriff. He also led the search and recover dive team as captain, serving on the team for more than a decade.
Since taking office as interim sheriff, “our number one priority has been and still is focusing on removing drug dealers from our community. Most Henry County citizens would probably agree the sales of narcotics have affected the quality of life here for a number of years,” said Davis.
“Enforcement of stopping drug dealers has been stepped up, priority one, since Day One,” he said. “I feel that we have been successful, but with the understanding that there’s still a long way to go. I feel safe in saying most communities in the Commonwealth, and the entire country, have been dealing with the same thing we have. My role is to make it very uncomfortable for those who chose criminal acts and to make Henry County a safe place to live.
“It’s a very lengthy process to build a culture in which citizens feel safe,” Davis said. “We use a variety of methods, such as communication with the sheriff’s office so they feel heard and see action.
The sheriff’s office maintains an active social media presence to keep the community informed, and “recently, we’ve partnered with Henry County Senior Services Department” to hold ‘Coffee with the Sheriff’s Office’ events held at the center in Collinsville, Davis said.
“We’re also holding K-9 demonstrations for senior citizens, and we try to support other county entities and civic organizations in the county,” he added.
The sheriff’s office has “a strong community policing presence and offers all sorts of activities and informational sessions,” Davis said of neighborhood watch programs, active shooter presentations, and participating in “as many community events as possible to build those strong community relationships. This has opened up communications, especially with neighbors that now feel comfortable calling us to report suspicious activities.”
His office is working to revise the neighborhood watch program, with deputy Jeff Jones, a certified crime prevention specialist, named coordinator. The programs are “voluntary for any neighborhood that is interested,” Davis said.
“Pre-covid, we had many active neighborhood programs, and now we’re trying very hard to bring them back, with one successfully reactivated in the last several months,” Davis said.
Anyone interested in establishing a program in their neighborhood may call Jones at (276) 638-8751.
The sheriff’s office employs 243 personnel, including part-time School Resources Officers (SROs) and animal control workers.
“This office is blessed to have great employees in every division here,” Davis said, and attributed the success to “their hard work, day in and day out” as well as residents’ willingness to work with the office.
“I want to give credit to their dedication, hard work, and wiliness to take the safety of this community seriously,” said Davis. “When we talk about our efforts to remove drug dealers from our community, that’s my vision, but it’s their hard work that makes it happen.”
Whether it’s Hines, Jones or another officer, “they’re as enthusiastic and as passionate about it as I am,” Davis said.
