By By Chandler Myers
Criminals better watch out for Atmore’s finest especially with two new patrolmen on the force.
Atmore natives Van Hughes and Lee Fountain are two of Atmore’s newer police officers with Hughes now being on the force for four months and Fountain just in his fourth week.
Both officers Hughes and Fountain are going to attend the police academy, which last 12 weeks, within the next month.
Hughes said becoming a police officer has always been a dream of his and he is glad he finally has the opportunity to fulfill it.
While it has been a dream for officer Hughes, the road to becoming an officer was different for Fountain.
Fountain said the decision to become an officer came while he attended college in Troy.
Both officers look forward to working in Atmore and neither plan to leave the city and it’s force any time soon.
Officer Fountain said he has no plans right now to leave Atmore and added that at this time this is where he wants to be.
Hughes shared the same viewpoint about staying in town and being near family and friends.
He added that he plans to stay with the force and try to move up over the years.
For officer Hughes his first four months have given him the same excitement most officers experience with all the ordinary situations.
Officer Hughes said that the first four months have been exciting, but he has just dealt with the normal situations.
Fountain’s first weeks have been close the same as Hughes, but said he has not experienced any big problems on his shifts, which he has worked both day and night shifts.
He added that he did have one exciting moment during one of his days on the job.