Bainbridge meets its new police chief
Published 10:42 am Sunday, May 22, 2016
Sometimes the glare of the public spotlight can burn a little too bright.
It sure seemed that way for Zoe Henry, who looked a bit overcome by the size of the crowd that crammed into council chambers at city hall last week for the Bainbridge 7-year-old’s “swearing in” ceremony as the new chief for the Bainbridge Island Police Department.
The switch for Bainbridge’s top cop was a welcome one, said Bainbridge Chief Matthew Hamner.
“I’d like to announce that I’ve lost my position,” Hamner said to the crowd.
“It was time for me to go. I found a much more qualified replacement,” he joked.
Zoe became the department’s “Chief for a Day” as part of the semi-annual event sponsored by the Criminal Justice Training Commission. The “Chief for a Day” event gives children with chronic illnesses the chance to have a day where they can focus on their lives and not their illnesses.
At the council meeting on May 10, Zoe was sworn into her new position by Bainbridge Municipal Judge Sara McCulloch, who administered the oath of office as Zoe was held in the arms of her mom, Shannin Strom-Henry.
As part of sponsoring Zoe, the Bainbridge Island Police Department is holding a fundraiser to provide Chief Zoe with gifts, school supplies and any needs her family may have.
Zoe may be one of the bravest members of the department.
She was born with a congenital diaphragmatic hernia in 2008 and was given a 25 percent chance of survival. After nearly three months in the hospital, including two weeks on ECMO (a bypass machine), multiple ventilators, more meds and tubes than you can count, endless conversations with doctors and nurses and lots of love and prayers, Zoe came home.
She was kept on oxygen every minute of the day, and had to get her meals through a feeding tube. Zoe needed medication seven times a day and was put on complete lockdown for fear of germs.
With love, therapy, dedication, tears and lots of hugs and smiles over the next three years she slowly started hitting some major milestones. She started eating orally when she was almost 2 and started walking about six months later. She now battles Pulmonary Hypertension, a life-threatening lung and heart disease, among other things, but never lets it slow her down.
Her family said the first-grader faces each day with a grin, and loves to bake, do crafts, play on the swings and spend time with her cousins and friends.
“It is my honor and privilege to allow this young lady to be Chief for a Day,” Hamner noted. “She has been a great blessing to all who meet her. Giving service and assistance to one so deserving transcends our daily challenges and gives us a moment to reflect on someone so courageous as Zoe and her family.”
Zoe will join a motorcade of tiny chiefs on Aug. 18 that will travel from Sho-Ware Center in Kent to the police academy in Burien. The children will have lunch, be sworn in as chiefs, and treated to many activities and gifts.
Islanders who would like to donate to the Chief for a Day fundraiser can stop by the police station on Winslow Way or mail donations to:
Bainbridge Island Police Department
Attn: Chief Zoe
625 Winslow Way East
Bainbridge Island, WA 98110.
