PORTSMOUTH, Va. — Portsmouth Police is bidding a fond farewell to one of its longest-serving officers.
Richard Huneycutt has been an Auxiliary Officer with Portsmouth PD since December 1974. In his 45 years of service, Officer Huneycutt has worked well over 30,000 hours -- averaging between 400 and 1,000 hours per year.
Auxiliary officers are unpaid volunteers who work to protect and serve the people of Portsmouth.
Officer Huneycutt has worked every Christmas Day since 1974, and will do so again this year to ensure a uniform patrol officer can take the day off to spend with their family.
He's been named auxiliary officer of the year numerous times, most recently in 2011. He also received the Portsmouth’s First Citizen Award in 2014 and the Greater Hampton Roads Regional Crime Lines Top Cop Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015.
Not only that, but Huneycutt was also the Portsmouth Police's first mounted patrol officer, using his own horse and their first School Resource Officer in the early 1990s.
Before becoming an auxiliary officer, Huneycutt spent several years as a volunteer firefighter, and also worked as a school teacher.
