Community remembers, honors former Haywood Co. Sheriff Melvin Bond

BROWNSVILLE, Tenn.–In honor of Black History Month, people gather to remember a staple and former community leader.

Families, friends and community members released balloons at the Haywood County Sheriff’s Office to recognize the late Sheriff Melvin Bond.

Bond, who started his law enforcement career in 1989, was first elected in 2002 as Haywood County’s first African-American sheriff.
Bond went to the Tennessee Law Enforcement Academy and trained in criminal investigation, narcotics and as a DARE instructor.

WBBJ 7 Eyewitness News spoke with Sheriff Bond’s widow about the balloon release, honoring her late husband.

“A couple of people came to me to ask me, ‘You know, would I do it’ and, being him, he would have done the same thing, so he loved his community,” said Virginia Bond, Sheriff Bond’s widow.

Sheriff Bond died in September 2017.