As you go through life, you won’t cross paths with very many people who you would say you truly respect and admire.
But then there’s that rare exception.
In my five-years-plus of working for the Houston Herald, there have been many people who have contributed to making that period one of the best of my life. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting and working with a mess of folks who have a lot to offer, and I believe I’m a better man for that.
But within that mess, there have been a handful of people I’ve gotten to know very well and in some cases have grown close to. One of them reached a milestone in his life last week: My good friend Jim McNiell.
After dedicating 38 years of his life to working as an officer of the law in Missouri, McNiell retired last Friday. While I didn’t know him during his 33 years as a Highway Patrol trooper, I crossed paths with him in the fall of 2010 when he became chief of the Houston Police Department.
I soon came to know that that acquaintance was much to my benefit.
Here’s a man who performed his duty at all times with the utmost purpose and diligence, while always paying close attention to the best interest of the people he served. As he negotiated the gauntlet of dealing with the public while at the same time balancing his obligations to a city’s administration, McNiell never wavered in his quest to do things right and conducted himself with empathy and kindness every step of the way.
You just don’t see that much these days. You’ll hear people talk that talk, but it’s unusual (I’ll say extremely unusual) to see someone actually walk that walk.
In Colossians 3:23 of the Bible, the Apostle Paul instructs us to do all our work as if we were doing it for the Lord. I always got the feeling McNiell carried and index card in his pocket with that verse written on it.
It was obvious that McNiell was always sincerely proud to be one of the men and women who don the uniforms, carry the gear and drive the cars of those who enforce laws. But at the same time, he also seemed to lament that there were people making “poor decisions,” and regretted that a few seemed trapped in a pattern of repeatedly doing so.
As a boss, McNiell never strayed from tending to his subordinates’ interests, at times even put his own on the back burner to make way. And despite carrying a heavy workload, family remained a paramount factor in his life.
And amazingly, through it all, McNiell never fired his duty weapon.
The bottom line is, nobody has ever had to wonder what to expect from Jim McNiell. His caring, kind, respectful and friendly demeanor isn’t a façade.
He is as he seems – the real deal.
We who lived in Houston during the five years of McNiell’s tenure as police chief may never fully comprehend how fortunate we are that he occupied that position at all.
But (and I know him well enough to know this won’t “go to his head”) I know how fortunate I am.