Either working on the frontlines or representing police officers, I’ve spent the last 47 years as part of the Valley’s law enforcement community. That includes 27 years in the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, where I rose to the rank of lieutenant. All those patrol shifts and late-night shooting scenes have given me a bird’s eye view of what makes a solid sheriff and the right leader for an agency with more than 3,500 employees.
To me, it comes down to experience. That’s why, in the July 30th Democratic primary, I’ll be supporting current Sheriff Russ Skinner over Tyler Kamp.
Skinner spent the last seven years as the Chief Deputy before stepping up as Sheriff after Paul Penzone retired. This promotion required Skinner, who’s worked for MCSO for 34 years, to take a 70 percent pay cut and give up six figures in retirement benefits. Still, he took the job because he’s committed to keeping this county’s 4.5 million residents safe while continuing to rebuild the professionalism of the Office and improving MCSO’s reputation.
I’ve known Skinner since his days as a cadet. The job has always been a labor of love for him. His passion, common sense, and integrity make him the right choice for the job.
By contrast, Kamp has fudged his career with the Phoenix Police Department to make himself sound like he has the necessary qualifications. In comparison to Skinner, whose responsibilities included all 9,202 square miles of Maricopa County, Kamp served as a Phoenix PD watch commander for three of the city’s seven precincts – an area about 3/100ths the size of the county. That’s an accomplishment, but it provided Kamp with no relevant experience in many of the key areas of the Sheriff’s Office.
Kamp has never run a massive police agency. He’s never run a jail with a single inmate, let alone more than 8,000 inmates. He’s never coordinated court services, led a search-and-rescue team, or authored and administered a $400 million budget. Skinner has done all of those things – and done them well.
Skinner also has led MCSO’s effort to solve the Melendres vs. Arpaio federal court intervention over the racial profiling that was customary when Sheriff Joe Arpaio led the office. Skinner has made structural changes within MCSO to rebuild trust with the Latino community and to satisfy the requirements of the court monitor. Under his leadership, the MCSO will work with the utmost integrity, keeping taxpayers safe and relieving them of the financial burden of the monitor, which has cost hundreds of millions of dollars over the past decade.
Kamp’s path to his candidacy includes “international experience” that he has touted frequently. His time in West Africa with the International Justice Mission bears deeper scrutiny. The IJM has been accused of the wrongful arrest and detention of children and fostering fear across Ghana, where Kamp worked. An undercover BBC investigation portrays IJM as a nightmare, while charitable donation rating sites like Charity Navigator and Ministry Watch display an “Alert” warning potential donors to beware of IJM.
Both Skinner and Kamp were Republicans before becoming Democrats to run for Sheriff. Kamp changed his registration this past January 25th. Where was he one week prior to that? In Washington, D.C., at an anti-abortion activism rally on the Capitol Mall.
“I think it’s kind of what they (speakers) have been saying where we want to make abortion unthinkable and I think while yeah, we’ve got some states doing the right thing, there’s also a lot more that we need to continue to push in the right direction,” Kamp told a local media outlet.
Will Kamp make it a top priority for the MCSO to arrest abortion providers? That’s a valid question – one among many when it comes to this critical race for public safety in our county.
Through his broad experience leading the office, I believe Russ Skinner has answered those questions. As a career cop, I know how much leadership means to a police agency. Maricopa County needs and deserves a consummate leader as Sheriff. Russ Skinner is that leader. I very much hope you agree.
Jim Mann served 27 years with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, then served 13 years as Executive Director for the Fraternal Order of Police Arizona Labor Council.
