Democratic candidates for Maricopa County sheriff tout experience, apolitical natures
Democratic candidates for the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office sparred in an Arizona Clean Elections Commission debate Tuesday afternoon, but neither candidate said why they were the best Democrat for the job.
Sheriff Russ Skinner and former Phoenix police Officer Tyler Kamp participated in the hour-long debate moderated by journalists Steve Goldstein and Mary Rabago.
Both candidates tried to portray themselves as apolitical, career law enforcement officers who put community service first.
Skinner, who was appointed to replace former Sheriff Paul Penzone, is running for a full term. A longtime Republican, he switched parties on Oct. 3, 2023, one day after Penzone, a Democrat, announced he would step down. State law required the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors to appoint someone of Penzone's political party as his replacement.
Kamp previously worked as a shift commander, gang enforcement sergeant and homicide detective for the Phoenix Police Department. He is a fifth-generation resident of Maricopa County with more than two decades of law enforcement experience.
Skinner touted his 34 years of experience with the Sheriff's Office as his greatest strength. Kamp countered that tenure, which included more than two decades serving under former Sheriff Joe Arpaio, was a weakness. Under Arpaio, a Republican, the Sheriff's Office was known for making people in jail wear pink underwear, an outdoor jail called Tent City, which Penzone shut down, and the racial profiling of Latinos that led to the office coming under federal court oversight.
Skinner said that comparison wasn't fair, saying it would be like holding him responsible for the Department of Justice's recent findings that the Phoenix Police Department has been violating federal laws and constitutional provisions in its treatment of people.
"I know the staff. I know the community. I know our challenges and where we excel," Skinner said of the Sheriff's Office. "We've been through a lot."
Skinner said the Sheriff's Office had made great strides toward compliance with federal court orders stemming from the department's history of civil rights violations, pointing out that he was put in charge of compliance back in 2013.
But Kamp said the fact that the oversight process was ongoing and that full compliance was still out of reach was evidence that Skinner had failed at his job.
"Who do you trust?" Kamp asked voters. "Someone who was put in charge of complying with the court orders and failed to do so? Or someone with a fresh face and a fresh voice?"
Kamp said when he first read the court orders from the racial profiling lawsuit, he was "blown away by how dysfunctional the leadership was" in the Sheriff's Office.
Skinner said he would continue outreach efforts through the community advisory board, which was created by order of a federal judge, to restore trust in the office.
Both candidates said they would continue to allow U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to operate in Maricopa County jails but would not perform so-called "courtesy holds," a process that Penzone discontinued in 2017.
Both candidates said there was no need to bring back Arpaio's Tent City. Skinner pointed to a newly constructed center for the intake, transfer and release of criminal defendants, calling it a model of modern law enforcement.
Both candidates said fentanyl remained a challenge in the jails. Kamp accused Skinner of allowing jail staff to bring the drugs in, but Skinner countered by saying the Sheriff's Office had implemented more security measures. He said only one staffer had been found to be planning to smuggle drugs into a jail, but that person was apprehended before they were successful.
Retired Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy Jerry Sheridan is running against former Glendale police Officer Mike Crawford and former director of the Arizona Department of Public Safety Frank Milstead for the Republican nomination. They were scheduled to square off in a debate Wednesday night.
The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office is one of the largest sheriff's offices in the nation, with upward of 3,000 employees, including deputies, jail guards and civilians.
The office patrols unincorporated areas of the county and municipalities without a designated police force. It also serves Superior Court orders and warrants, collects delinquent taxes, coordinates search and rescue missions and oversees the county's five jails.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Democrats Russ Skinner, Tyler Kamp tout experience in sheriff debate
