School resource officer to retire from sheriff’s office

GADSDEN, Ala. (AP) - Lanny Handy has touched the lives of thousands of students during his career as an Etowah County sheriff’s deputy.

He has spent most of his time in the schools, teaching DARE and other educational classes.

As he readies to retire, he knows now it was the job he was meant to do.

Handy was first hired at the sheriff’s office after four years in the Coast Guard. He planned to go to Birmingham to re-enlist in the Coast Guard when his phone rang just as he was leaving his house. He stopped to answer, and it was the late Sheriff Felton Yates.

“He asked me if I wanted a job, and I said yes,” Handy said. That changed his career direction.

Handy worked at the sheriff’s office for three years before taking a job at Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. He worked there 11 years before the late Sheriff James Hayes hired him in 1990.

“I don’t really remember now if I volunteered for DARE or I got volunteered,” he said. “But Sheriff Hayes said, ’I want you to be my next DARE officer,’ and I said ’What is that?’”

Handy has served in the schools for 21 years and he estimates that he has had about 15,000 students graduate from the DARE program. He taught between 15 and 18 lessons a week.

“I had to make the last lesson as exciting as the first,” he said.

The class is no longer called DARE, but the concepts are the same. It’s about reaching children at an early age to teach them about the dangers of drugs and alcohol, Handy said, and teaching them about making good decisions.

For Handy, it has become much more than that. He became emotional as he described a time last year when he spoke to a first-grader in the hall and asked how she was. She reached her arms up for a hug.

“I just went down on a knee and hugged her,” he said.

Handy said the innocence of children has touched him. “If some of the parents knew stories these kids sometimes tell, it might make them pause and think twice before doing some of the things they do,” he said.

Sometimes those stories have required further investigation, he said.

Handy became the supervisor of school resource officers when that program started in 2000, and continues in that role now.

He has a working relationship with both the sheriff’s office and school officials.

Handy was honored on July 21 at the Etowah County Board of Education meeting.

“Lanny has served our schools in so many ways I can’t even begin to name them all - has touched the lives of thousands upon thousands, young and old alike,” school board member Doug Sherrod said. “I have come to know and love Officer Handy. There are people in life you run across from time to time that instantly you know are genuine, the real deal. Lanny is that kind of man.

“His passion and dedication to teach children the importance of staying away from drugs through the DARE program has led thousands of children down the right path,” Sherrod said. “I have witnessed Lanny at work in our schools, and to see the faces of the kids light up when he walks into the room is a special thing.”

Sheriff Todd Entrekin said Handy has not only made an impact in the lives of the students, but in the lives of their families.

“Sgt. Handy has touched more lives than anyone can count with his dedication in teaching students to be drug free,” Entrekin said. “It is always impressive to see how the young students cling to Lanny and those who have now graduated say ’hi’ every time they see him out in public. Lanny has also taught these students that law enforcement officers are their friend and not an enemy. I am thankful for Lanny’s service to the public and schools, and wish him the best in his retirement.”

Handy once taught Michael Barton, now chief deputy at the sheriff’s office.

“Years ago as one of Sgt. Handy’s fifth-grade DARE students, and now as chief deputy sheriff, I have personally experienced his dedication and service to positively impacting the lives of students and families in Etowah County,” Barton said.

Handy said he is ready for retirement, but he is going to miss the kids.

“I never dreaded going to work,” he said. “I’ve been blessed. I believe I have been where I was supposed to be.”

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Information from: The Gadsden Times, https://www.gadsdentimes.com