Chief deputy David James to retire after 38 years of service

Chief Deputy David James with the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Office retired Friday after 38-years of service.

"It's bittersweet," James said. "I've been doing it so long it's just kind of in my blood, and it's gonna be hard to just stop and turn it off. But, you know, those deals where I know a lot of people work up until the time they die, and I just don't want to be one of those people. I want to have some time to enjoy life."

James, 63, first began working with the department in 1982 on a volunteer basis.

"The sheriff's patrol had about 20 guys that worked whenever the deputies couldn't work, and we worked special events," James said. "So I was working the street without pay, you know, and I worked almost 20 hours a week sometimes."

April 7, 1986, James was hired as a full-time jail deputy by former Sheriff Norman Copeland before transitioning to the patrol division months later.

"Sheriff Copeland, he was highway patrol commander at the time," James said. "He became sheriff, and he hired me on. So then I started working in the jail."

James was promoted to the criminal investigation division in January 1988, and was promoted to sergeant in April by Copeland. James was later promoted to lieutenant by former Sheriff John Jordan in February 1995.

On June 13, 2012, James assisted in apprehending Lawrence Guthrie who had been involved in a shootout with Jackson police officers and Cape County deputies.

James was once again promoted, this time to the rank of captain, on Jan 7, 2014. In January, sheriff Ruth Ann Dickerson promoted James to the rank of chief deputy.

During his career, James served as squad commander for the major case squad from 2000-2011 and as deputy squad commander from 2011 on.

Following his retirement, James plans to spend more time with his family.

"A lot of sacrifices have been made on my family's part," James said. "Over the years I've missed a lot of birthdays, holidays, anniversaries and time with my loved ones. It's time to time to put my family first."

In addition to spending more time with his family, James has one more big plan for his retirement.

"I'm just planning on doing some more fishing," James said. "I'm going to go out on the river and try to do some catfishing. Get me a boat and spend some time out there."