Race for Pinal County Sheriff gets more interesting, Democrat candidate declares
SBINSIDER| March 20th
While Sheriff Lamb is “exploring” running for US Senate, two candidates have emerged to replace him. Lamb has let it be know that he would support Ross Teeple, a current Pinal County deputy. Both are Republicans. This past week, a new candidate has emerged from the city of Maricopa.
MARICOPA — Patrick Melvin has told PinalCentral he will be running for Pinal County sheriff in the 2024 Democratic primary.
Melvin 58, husband of Rhonda for 32 years and father to three children, brings a substantive amount of police experience. He retired from the Phoenix Police Department and was hired as Maricopa’s first officer and chief following the city’s incorporation. He also served as police chief of Port Arthur, Texas, and the Salt River Indian Community.
Melvin will be running for the Democratic nomination in the primary in August 2024, against whomever wins the Republican primary. Assuming he prevails, Melvin would be running uphill as Pinal voted about 58% for Republicans in the 2020 general election.
Melvin resigned from both chief positions at Salt River and Port Arthur. PinalCentral reported at the time that he resigned at Salt River after being placed on administrative leave for seeking positions at large cities like Phoenix and Seattle.
The Beaumont Enterprise in Texas reported in 2018 that Melvin was asked to resign in Port Arthur months after officers in the local police association voted “no confidence” in his performance.
Hard Pass !!!
We don’t need a DEI Communist in this important.office.
What can I do to help? I am so for taking politics out of the Sheriff Dept. It has no place.
I want yard signs.
The Sheriff’s Department can only improve with good management. Chief Melvin offers a knowledge of and advocacy for good management principles. He has broad experience bringing professionalism to other jurisdictions and is a locally familiar man, active in his community. He is being brought out of retirement by the need to take politics out of the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office. He is well versed in the local issues and brings a broad experience in delivering professional law enforcement.
If we want to avoid the troubles that Phoenix is facing, with a threat by the Department of Justice to take over their Police Department, we need a man who will emphasize training and following the rules. We don’t need another “Good Old Boy” beholden to the powerful and looking for favors in the future from them. Chief Melvin is truly interested in making the Sheriff’s Department better, not in keeping it a tool of the Party. Vote for Melvin.
To quote an earlier commenter; ‘If we want to avoid the troubles that Phoenix is facing, with a threat by the Department of Justice to take over their Police Department”. Is the BIGGEST reason we do not want Melvin as our Sheriff. His entire career was with Phoenix PD during the time covered by the DOJ civil rights violation report. Vote for the person who has spent his career protecting your civil rights not violating them. Vote Teeple for the People and protect Pinal County citizens civil rights. Read the DOJ report it will chill you to know the culture and help you understand Melvin’s mindset.