Jimmy Hamm has announced his candidacy for sheriff of Crenshaw County.

Hamm was born in Honoraville, Ala., and graduated from Goshen High School.

He graduated from the Montgomery Police Academy in 1982, and since then has attended many law enforcement schools such as Homicide Investigations at the University of Alabama and the School of Forensic Anthropology at Jacksonville University.

He has also completed Police Admissions and Confessions Academy at Enterprise State Junior College as well as Crime Scene Investigations with the Alabama Department of Forensic Science. Hamm has a total of 25 years experience in law enforcement.

Hamm said that if he is elected sheriff, he plans to implement Crenshaw County's first sheriff's sub-station in Highland Home.

&#8220Highland Home is a fast-growing area, and it needs law enforcement around the clock,” Hamm said.

&#8220I would like to see our deputies help to educate our young people who are still in school about the hazards of drugs and alcohol,” he said. &#8220I also feel that it is very important for the entire sheriff's department to have a good rapport with our young people so that if they have a problem at home or at school, they will feel comfortable enough to come to us at any time.”

Hamm said that he would also like to see deputies assigned to different areas of the county, getting to know the elderly and assisting them whenever they need it.

&#8220I have worked with many good people such as Mayor Johnny Ford and Sheriff David Warren of Macon County,” Hamm said. &#8220Together, we formed the city of Tuskegee's first S.W.A.T. team. I've also learned a great deal from other law enforcement personnel such as Butler County Sheriff Diane Harris, Lowndes County Sheriff Willie Vaughner and White Hall's mayor John Jackson. Some of these people have helped to teach me how to deal with the public and how to understand them.”

&#8220Helping people has always been one of my greatest desires, and I want the people of Crenshaw County to know that if they have a problem, I would be there to help them,” Hamm said.

Hamm is the son of Avis and the late Gary Hamm and the grandson of the late Willie and Bettie Rogers of Honoraville.