The man who once called Arizona the “Mecca of hate and bigotry,” retired Sheriff Clarence Dupnik, emailed Pima County democrats to spew hate and bigotry in support of current Sheriff Chris Nanos. The vitriolic message was met with a rapid response from former Surgeon General and Democratic senatorial candidate, Dr. Richard Carmona.
Since the indictment of Chief Deputy Chris Radtke earlier this month, and his much anticipated plea agreement due in early November, tensions in the Department have been high. Dupnik’s email appeared to many to be a desperate plea to keep Nanos in power so as to prevent the house of cards Dupnik built from collapsing.
Dupnik had little to offer as far as a recommendation of Nanos. He wrote, “Chris was my Chief Deputy before being selected by the Board of Supervisors to succeed me as Sheriff when I retired almost two years ago. I made him my Chief Deputy because he is a smart, no-nonsense street cop who came up through the ranks over 30 years beginning first as a Corrections Officer at our jail. He’s done it all and done it well and with class.”
On the other hand, while bemoaning politics, Dupnik took a shot at Nanos’ opponent and the men and women in the Sheriff’s Department who support him. He wrote, “His opponent, through cowardly surrogates, has run a vicious attack campaign full of lies, half-truths, innuendo, and ruinous character assassination. Believe me, I know when they repeatedly state, “It’s not political,” it is just that—political.”
Because most of Napier’s support comes from Sheriff’s personnel, who have been disgusted with the corruption that has grown in the Department, Dupnik’s attack was viewed as a direct assault on them.
Carmona, who served as a Deputy Sheriff for over 30 years and as the Department’s Trauma and EMS Director for many years as well as the US Surgeon General, wrote in part:
Today I read the memo from Clarence to all of you and I was very disappointed for this is the first time in 30 years that I can remember disagreeing with my former boss, Clarence Dupnik.
As much as I appreciate Clarence standing up for the men he once worked with and supporting democratic candidates he is misguided in this attempt today. For the evidence is clear That Sheriff Nanos and his 2 handpicked political appointees, Chief Deputy Chris Radtke, (recently indicted on multiple federal accounts of police corruption), and Chief of Staff Brad Gagnapain, (who committed suicide coincident with him finding out he was a primary suspect In the FBI police corruption investigation), were involved in police corruption which Nanos by his own public admission oversaw, condoned and or participated in.
I too would like to see an honest Democrat running for the Pima County Sheriff position, BUT we do not have an honest and capable leader in Nanos.
In addition, Nanos has directed or condoned the harassment and retaliation against honest officers who were identified as having spoken to the FBI. this included but is not limited to officers being demoted, transferred, put on administrative leave without pay and threatened by Nanos and or his inner circle of “enforcers”. In addition, there was the withholding and hiding of an official County report that validated the bullying of an officer, an FBI witness, by Nanos.
The morale in the department is the lowest any of us have seen in 30 years!
Remember, when the FBI story broke it was Nanos who adamantly denied any criminality in the dept and went further to directly disparage the FBI, it’s agents and its lead agent in Southern Az.
He has systematically avoided debating his opponent for in his few public appearances he repeatedly could not answer questions and always embarrassed himself and the dep’t. Now he acknowledges there was criminal activity but blames others and takes no responsibility as a real leader would.
To me this Sheriff’s election is not about democrats or republicans. Rather it is about integrity which Nanos and his corrupt crew lack. The public we have the privilege to serve deserves better.
“Sheriff Dupnik is doing what most of us would do in the situation he is in. He was the leader of this agency for thirty five years, so it is understandable that he would not want his last official decision to be one like this. It is a normal reaction. However the facts cannot be ignored. There is an FBI investigation and a very real possibility of further indictments that may include Sheriff Nanos. If that in fact happens, the damage to the legacy of retired Sheriff Clarence Dupnik would be much greater. I certainly do not want to see that happen,” stated Sgt. Kevin Kubitskey, president of the Pima County Deputy Sheriff’s Association.