http://www.masslive.com/politics/index.ssf/2015/07/jack_griffin_for_hampden_count.html

 Two of the three publicly announced candidates for Hampden County sheriffkicked off their campaigns in party-like settings, with family, friends and dozens of supporters by their sides.

Candidate No. 3, however, is a self-described "neighborhood guy" from Springfield with a slightly different approach. Jack Griffin is quietly making it known that he, too, is in the race for sheriff, talking to his East Forest Park neighbors, chatting with customers at doughnut shops, sharing coffee with friends and strangers alike.

A grassroots movement is also afoot, including a Facebook page, Jack Griffin 4 Sheriff 2016, which is helping to spread the word about Jack and touting him as the right man for the job.

For Griffin, a veteran corrections official born and bred in the multiethnic Forest Park section of the city, there aren't a lot of strangers in his life. He seems to know everyone, from the guy asking for change at The X, to the crew at Murphy's Pop Stop, to every other person walking the sidewalks in this bustling part of Springfield. Clearly, Griffin is comfortable in the Forest Park and East Forest Park neighborhoods, the streets he has called home for his 56 years.

"I'm jumping in this campaign because I firmly believe I'm the most qualified," the former boxer said in a recent interview near The X, his old stomping ground.

Griffin now lives in East Forest Park, a short drive away from the neighborhood he grew up in, where he attended Holy Name and played basketball with the likes of Domenic Sarno, Derek Kellogg and Vinny Del Negro. The single father of two says he still goes to Mass at the neighborhood Catholic church with his 11-year-old daughter Bridget and 17-year-old son Dermot.

"I made a big move from Forest Park to East Forest Park," jokes Griffin, who retired from the Connecticut Department of Corrections four years ago. But he says he still has a burning desire to serve the people of Springfield and Hampden County, sharing what he learned from 21 years in the corrections field – much of it spent helping inmates with addiction issues.