MILWAUKEE (SPECTRUM NEWS)-- “We had many things in this neighborhood. We had love,” said Sheriff Earnell Lucas.

Sheriff Lucas was born in the Hillside housing project in the 1950s where many families migrated from the South to Milwaukee. “For a young boy whose humble beginnings began in that place known as Hillside to have had the opportunities I have had in my life is truly a humbling experience. One couldn’t write a story like that,” Lucas said.

Lucas was raised by a single mother in the Harambee neighborhood. At the age of 11, his mother died and his grandmother relocated from Alabama to come to Milwaukee and care for Lucas and his two older brothers. 

“My grandmother would teach us about life and tell us stories about what it was like growing up in the Deep South,” Lucas said. 

Lucas’ passion for law enforcement was shaped by an encounter he had with a police officer when he was a young boy. The officer falsely accused him of stealing a woman’s purse. Lucas told him he was on his way to buy groceries for his grandmother as he waved the twenty-dollar bill in his hand. Knowing that Earnell was innocent, the officer drove off. “It was at that moment that I saw the authority that a police officer has and I knew- that’s what I want to be,” Lucas sad.

Earnell Lucas was sworn in as Milwaukee County Sheriff on January 7th, 2019. He joined the department after 17 years at Major League Baseball, where he served as MLB'S Chief Liaison of Security & Investigations for the National Association of Professional Baseball League. Prior to baseball, he spent 25 years in the Milwaukee Police Department.

Faith has played a significant role in his life. Lucas is not only a two-time cancer survivor; he is also a survivor of gun violence. As a young police officer, he was shot in the face while responding to a routine call. Lucas says he turned to prayer when friends and family called asking him to come home to help rebuild trust in the Milwaukee community.  

“People made their choice on November 6th of 2018 and people overwhelmingly chose this young boy from the central city of Milwaukee to be the next leader of the Milwaukee County sheriff’s office, " he said.

As a product of the Milwaukee public school system, Lucas hopes his story will inspire youth. 

“Some young boy or young girl that they can do whatever it is that they set their minds to if they just believe in themselves. Work hard each day and let nothing and no one stands in their way,” Lucas said.

Sheriff Earnell Lucas proves that with love, support, and faith anything is possible.  

“I hope that my grandmother is looking down now and saying that I stepped up to the plate like a man at an early age and that I am doing it now and making her proud,” Lucas said.