Chris Anderson is sometimes called Mr. First 48.

The former Birmingham Police detective has been featured on “The First 48,” the long-running true crime documentary series that premiered on A&E in 2004. The show, which filmed several episodes in Birmingham, follows real-life homicide detectives during the critical early hours of murder investigations.

“I get approached daily about ‘First 48,’” Anderson said. “It still goes on. Most folks that approach me, it’s in a manner of something positive. ‘Thank you for doing X.’”

These days, Anderson hopes to move from having been the TV star to the face behind the star. He is running for the Democratic nomination to unseat two-term incumbent Mark Pettway as Jefferson County sheriff in the May 19 primary.

Jude Washington rounds out the Democratic ballot with Anderson and Pettway. Jacob Reach is the lone Republican candidate.

“I didn’t see the change that I voted for eight years ago,” Anderson said, explaining why he stepped into the race. “I haven’t seen the change that I voted for four years ago. I’m a long-time mentor and I tell all of my kids all of the time (that) you have to be the change that you want to see.

“If you have experience in a position and you think that your experience could help someone, you have to be willing to put yourself out there in order to help,” the 51-year-old Hoover resident said. “God has given me this mission to serve. That’s all I want to do, serve the people.”

Anderson presented his platform before about two dozen people at Live Loft in downtown Ensley.

“No 1, I’m gonna fix the jail,” he said. “The jail has been a huge problem. It’s been draining resources, and we’ve lost a lot of lives over there. That’s a huge problem.

“No. 2, we need make sure our department is fully staffed in a way that we can bring some more safety,” the candidate said. “We can increase our call response time and we can make the overall county of Jefferson a better place. Those are two of my top priorities.”

Anderson was in law enforcement for 31 years, following his mother, Jessica Anderson, who retired as a sergeant from Birmingham Police Department. “She and I worked her last eight years together at Birmingham,” he said.

The son ultimately retired from the Birmingham police force after 21 years and thought he had found his dream retirement job, working with the railroad as an investigator. But life dealt him another hand.

“I got the job and maybe a week before I started, I got a phone call from another television show wanting me to do that show,” Anderson said. “The name of the show was ‘Reasonable Doubt’ on Investigation Discovery. OK, yeah. Instead of me looking into cases that put folks in (jail), I looked into cases of wrongful convictions, where families believed that their loved one had been wrongfully convicted.”

“Out of the 50 cases that we worked on, about 10 or 12 we advocated for this person to be released,” he said. “Out of those 12, about seven or eight of them are free now.”

The candidate said his time on “Reasonable Doubt” displays his willingness to stand up for true justice.

“You don’t make many friends in the law enforcement world when you’re willing to say you are wrong, your profession is wrong for what they do to this man,” Anderson said. “I didn’t make any friends when I was with ‘Reasonable Doubt,’ but that’s OK, because I believe in truth. I believe in justice.”

After five seasons on “Reasonable Doubt,” Anderson was a voluntary instructor at Talladega College. The father of two adult offspring said he couldn’t seek a college degree when his children were young. He eventually got his degree at Talladega College before being hired as the campus’ chief of police.

“I learned that, in order for me to be in any leadership position, no matter how many years you spent in the profession, no matter how many things that you’ve done, no matter how many television shows you’ve been on, if you don’t have that education, it’s all for nothing,” he said. “(God) showed me (that) I’ve got more for you. Chris, you’ve got way more that I want you to do.’ God has been setting me up to run for this position since I was a young, young man.”