Your Stories. Our Legacy.

Steven Henderson
Sergeant, Hampton (NH) Police Department

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I was privileged to begin and end my career as a police officer for the Town of Hampton—the last ten years assigned to the patrol division as a Sergeant. I was lucky to be offered a vast amount of training over the years and be part of the Special Response Team, Lead motorcycle instructor and unit, accident investigation unit to name a few.

My toughest days on the job were dealing with young infants who passed in my arms from vehicle accidents to SIDs and other causes. The names and faces always live with me. The greatest lesson one could teach other young officers is to be compassionate to others. Treat them like you would want to be treated, you never know what they have been through and have never walked in their shoes. I believe that most people are good and the very few are the ones we deal with.

Some of my proudest moments are being part of the Motorcycle unit—Attending hundreds of charitable events, Officers’ funerals, paying respect to those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice. I am proud to have been deeply involved in my community and police-related work: longest standing president of the Hampton Police Association; Rockingham County Law Enforcement Officers Association-ten years; Co-founded NH Congressional Law Enforcement Officers Awards, where officers are recognized annually; and Ambassador to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial for over twenty years.

I am also very passionate about being a member of the Police Unity Tour Chapter 3 for over ten years. At the end of the day the most important moments of the day relate to one’s family. I am so lucky to have a caring and understanding wife and two awesome kids, one of which is a school teacher and the other a police officer. I live for them. I was blessed to have some of the finest officers working for me over the past ten years as the early night supervisor. They made my job easy—Officer Aham, Officer Brown, Officer Moisakis, Officer Morais to name a few. I always knew we had each other’s backs and looked out for each other.

I will end with this, get to know your community, meet with and get to know as many business owners and residents as you can. Make them your friends and you will be rewarded throughout your career. When you need information to help solve crimes or everyday issues, they will be willing to help out. Get involved in your community and beyond. Being a police officer is a calling and being a motorcycle officer is the greatest job on earth.