On Monday, the Arizona Constables Association (ACA) called for John Acton, a candidate for the office of Constable in Pinal County to reconsider his refusal to withdraw from the race. Last week, Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu called on Acton to formally withdraw from the race due to allegations of impersonating a Police Officer and falsifying his service as a Chicago police officer.
The Arizona Constables Association (ACA), which represents Constables in the State of Arizona and provides leadership and training to include Integrity and Ethical Conduct of its members released a statement saying that they “are extremely disappointed in the recent revelations regarding John Acton, a candidate for the office of Constable in Pinal County and his refusal to withdraw from his campaign for Constable.”
The Association statement continued, “Constables, and all elected officials, are and should be held to a higher standard of Ethical conduct and Integrity and the actions of John Acton and his refusal to withdraw from his campaign for Constable is disheartening. We are asking John Acton to reconsider his position and to withdraw and ask the citizens of Pinal County to review all available information before voting in the November General Election.”
According to Babeu, after meeting with Acton for nearly 90 minutes to listen and review documents that Acton said would “prove his service as a Police Officer,” Babeu concluded there was “ no such evidence.”
Instead, according to Babeu, “Acton offered a letter from the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) confirming he was Security Officer for nearly 11 years, not a certified Chicago police officer. Acton not only admitted to me that he never attended a Police Academy, my staff confirmed with the Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board that Acton has never been a sworn law enforcement officer with any police agency in Illinois in the past 50 years.”
Babeu continued, “Acton previously stated to me personally that he was a Chicago police officer for 26 years and arrested over 700 criminals. He claimed to have worked as a Homicide detective, undercover investigations, violent street crimes unit and even that he was in a police shooting. It turns out that none of this information is true.”
Constables are elected officials who serves as the Executive Branch of the Courts, according to the ACA. Constables are empowered to serve all process given to them by the Justice of the Peace or other competent authority. The process includes service of criminal and civil subpoenas and summonses, writs of restitution (eviction orders), writs of execution (orders to collect judgments), writs of replevin (orders to seize property), orders of protection and injunctions against harassment as well as any other orders from the courts. Constables may also be involved in the sale of seized property and summoning jurors for trials.