 A retired police officer, Henry Spencer raised his only son, Shawn, to follow in his footsteps, schooling him in detective work from a young age.The character is based loosely on series creator Steve Franks' father, a police officer who wanted his son to choose a similar career path.He would sometimes try to hone Franks' observational skills by asking how many people were wearing hats in a restaurant, a tactic which Henry employs with Shawn in the series pilot.