Former Macon Police Chief James Avera dies at 84
Middle Georgia lost a gentle giant in law enforcement Tuesday afternoon with the death of James Avera Jr. He was 84.
The former Macon police chief's tenure in the 1990s was bookended by chief sheriff's deputy jobs in Bibb and Jones counties.
During his more than half-century in law enforcement, Avera was known for his calm demeanor. He is described by friends and former colleagues as a master leader who cared deeply about others.
"He died peacefully at his home, surrounded by his family," Bibb County Coroner Leon Jones said.
Avera already was an experienced lawman who had worked four decades in the Bibb County Sheriff's Office before becoming Macon's police chief in February 1992 as part of Mayor Tommy Olmstead's administration. He retired from the department in 1997 while Jim Marshall was mayor. After leaving Macon City Hall, Avera helped manage the Jones County Sheriff's Office for 11 years, from 2001 to 2012, Sheriff Butch Reece said.
"Chief Avera was just a calming person," Reece said Tuesday afternoon after learning of his death. "You could easily talk to him, and we'd seek his advice and guidance."
Macon-Bibb County Commissioner Ed DeFore, who served on the Macon City Council for decades, remembers Avera as a quiet man. He remembers the two of them bouncing initiatives off each other that sometimes ended up going before the council for a vote.
"He always had a little smile on his face," DeFore said Tuesday afternoon. "You knew when he had a smile that things were going pretty good."
Avera also was quick to stand up for his employees against mistreatment and pushed for them to be paid well with first-class health benefits, DeFore said.
"He always had his men and women under him at heart and fought for them," he said. "That meant a lot coming from a person in a leadership position."
Disagreements with Marshall in the mid-1990s played a role in Avera's retirement, although the mayor was able to persuade him to stay on the force an extra year. But Marshall had nothing but fond memories of him Tuesday as he detailed how difficult it was to replace someone of Avera's caliber.
"This city was not an easy place to police and required a combination of strong hand and very good judgment because the city was so diverse," Marshall said. "Finding a new chief really didn't happen quickly. A number of people were interested but couldn't cut the mustard. James was just so great."
When Avera announced his retirement as police chief, he said he was proud of the progress made toward community-oriented policing, improving training and restoring the public's faith in the department.
"This is a good police agency with dedicated people in it who are doing a thankless job, and I'm proud of my tenure with them," Avera said at the time. "People have been good to me. Hopefully I've given something back."
Retired Macon police Detective Jimmy Barbee remembers sitting in meetings with the chief, who frequently touched the tips of his fingers together as he pondered the topic of the discussion.
"Gentlemen, the ox is in the ditch," Barbee recalled Avera saying, leaving him wondering what his boss was talking about.
"He was a big man, but he was a quiet man," said Barbee. "But when he spoke, you knew exactly what he was telling you."
The towering, barrel-bellied chief is remembered as a master administrator, who generally left the investigative work to others.
Before making a decision, Avera would absorb the circumstances and "always tried to do it in a way that was best for everyone," Marshall said.
"He served so many people and so many different capacities so well," Marshall said. "It's really safe to say it was a life well lived."
Hart's Mortuary and Crematory has charge of arrangements.
Information from Telegraph archives was used in this report. To contact writer Liz Fabian, call 744-4303. To contact writer Stanley Dunlap, call 744-4623.
This story was originally published December 29, 2015 at 7:41 PM with the headline "Former Macon Police Chief James Avera dies at 84 ."