After 32 years of service as a law enforcement officer in Tallahatchie County, Benjamin “Benji” McKinney recently hung up his sidearm and unpinned his badge for the last time.
Benji’s retirement at the age of 54 was official Jan. 28, but a planned reception in his honor had to be postponed due to Winter Storm Fern and its icy onslaught.
In remarks at the eventual Feb. 27 retirement reception, Tallahatchie County Sheriff Jimmy Fly noted the monthlong delay with a bit of humor.
“The reason we had the ice storm is because when Benji told me he was going to retire, I said, ‘You’ll retire when hell freezes over.’ Next thing I know, we’ve got 4 inches of ice on the ground,” said Fly, to laughter from the crowd gathered in the courtroom of the Tallahatchie County Courthouse in Charleston.
— * —
Benji, a native of the Rural Route 2, Oakland — specifically, the Tatum Pond area east of Charleston — is the son of Benny Lyle McKinney and Linda S. McKinney and the dad of Kimberly McKinney.
Graduating from Strider Academy in 1989, Benji hired on for a while with DeSoto Electric as an electrician. He joined the Mississippi Army National Guard, attending boot camp at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, and was attached to the 223rd Engineering Battalion’s Company C in Charleston.
He attended Northwest Mississippi Community College, where in 1992 he earned an associate’s degree in criminal justice.
In May 1994, Benji joined the Charleston Police Department. Four months later, the patrolman was elevated from part-time to full-time status.
Then police Captain John Page was his training officer.
In attending a required intensive basic training course and graduating from the Mississippi Law Enforcement Officers’ Training Academy near Pearl, Benji was honored with the leadership award as a squad leader and also qualified as an expert marksman with a pistol.
In June 1996, Benji left the police department and joined the Tallahatchie County Sheriff’s Office.
He worked for three sheriffs and served there 30 years before retiring with the rank of chief deputy, thankful that he never had to fire his service weapon in the line of duty.
— * —
When asked why he was leaving law enforcement, Benji said, “It’s just time. Right now, I’m just enjoying retirement.”
His hobbies include hunting, fishing and riding four-wheelers.
He does not jog or run for exercise. In fact, he does not run at all.
On Dec. 9, 2004, Benji was a passenger in a patrol car driven by a deputy trainee on a rainy night.
“I was training him, and it was his second or third day,” Benji recalled of the rookie.
Their 2001 Ford Crown Victoria cruiser hydroplaned after hitting a water-covered section of Highway 35 near the "three-way" intersection south of Charleston. The vehicle careened off the pavement and flipped end over end, ejecting Benji. The car came to rest on its roof alongside the highway. Benji landed near a culvert.
The rookie was treated at Tallahatchie General Hospital and released. Benji, who sustained a fractured jaw, cracked skull, dislocated elbow and crushed left ankle, was transferred from TGH to The Med in Memphis, where he spent time in the intensive care unit.
Benji’s recovery involved two surgeries, intense physical therapy and a lot of rest.
During one surgery, rods and screws were implanted to stabilize his shattered ankle, but it came at a cost.
“They were able to get my ankle into a neutral position to where I could stand flat-footed,” noted Benji. “I lost motion in my ankle, so I couldn’t run anymore.”
Due to his injuries, he was on medical leave for the remainder of 2004 and all of 2005 before returning to the sheriff’s office in 2006.
“I still can’t remember everything” from the accident, Benji said.
— * —
On a lighter note shortly after his official remarks, Fly recalled that on two separate occasions, Benji doused him with pepper spray while they were trying to subdue suspects.
“One time we were wrestling someone and Benji sprayed me right between the eyes,” Fly recalled, pointing to the bridge of his nose and grimacing at the memory.
Replied Benji, “That’s why I always hated pepper spray, because it gets all over you no matter who you spray.”
— * —
Page, who went on to serve many years as Charleston police chief while also working part-time at the sheriff’s office with Benji, where he remains, had only good things to say about his former trainee.
“He was the best trainee I ever had. He caught on real good,” said Page. “He was a good officer, one of the better ones I ever worked with. I’ve enjoyed working with him.”
— * —
While serving with the sheriff’s office, Benji also occasionally worked, on a contract basis, as a sworn special agent for the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics (MBN).
During the recent retirement reception, MBN Major John Butts presented Benji with a large framed certificate of appreciation that also included an official photo ID from Benji’s time with the drug enforcement agency.
Butts, with MBN’s northern region Oxford District office, said he had worked with Benji for 16 years.
“He’s been our main, most help out of Tallahatchie County since I’ve been here,” Butts noted. “We’re going to miss him a lot. I don’t think we could express how much we are going to miss him. He will be hard to replace.”
While Butts said Benji had some specialized training for his duties with MBN over the years, he noted that “some of that stuff, you can’t teach.”
Praising Benji’s “laid-back, great attitude,” Butts said the agent’s personal knowledge, knowledge of Tallahatchie County and of the law, served himself and MBN well.
“He actually has taught our agents a lot of stuff over the years,” Butts added. “We don’t have many contract agents up here, and he’s by far been one of our best.”
— * —
Fly, who served alongside Benji as a deputy under a former sheriff, offered his own words of praise for McKinney.
“He’s always been there, not only for Tallahatchie County but for the people and for me,” said Fly, who has been sheriff since August 2018. “He’s been a good friend of mine.”
Fly said he is grateful for Benji’s service.
“Everything he’s sacrificed and given up over 30 years means a lot to me,” the sheriff noted. “I’m grateful for everything he’s done for the county. We’re definitely going to miss him.”
