BAY MINETTE, Ala. (WPMI) The Bay Minette city council has appointed the city's first black chief of police.
Chief Clarence Crook III was appointed permanently in Tuesday's city council meeting.
Chief Crook began working with the city of Bay Minette in January 1985, attending the Southwest Police Academy in October of that year.
Local 15 spoke with Chief Crook, who says he worked his way up through the ranks with the police department, becoming a corporal in October 1988 and getting promoted to sergeant three months later.
Since then, Crook earned numerous promotions and accolades with the force.
Chief Crook was named interim Police Chief on Nov. 5, 2012 after former police chief Mike Rowland was let go.
Bay Minette's mayor, Bob Willis, told Local 15 back in November that the unanimous decision to let Rowland go was due to the need to stabilize the department.
According to city's police department website, the city is served by a full service police department consisting of 26 police officers, one animal control officer, nine support personnel, eight Police Auxiliary/Reserve officers, and a multitude of citizen volunteers to carry out the day-to-day operations of the department.
