Pinal County Sheriff's Office

Pinal County covers 5,374 square miles and is approximately the size of Connecticut.{{Cite web|title=Economic Development for Pinal County Arizona – GIS Maps|url=https://www.pinalcountyaz.gov/ed/siteselectiontools/Pages/Maps.aspx|access-date=2020-08-11|website=www.pinalcountyaz.gov}} The county is divided into two Regions. The Patrol Bureau is overseen by a Captain and 3 Lieutenants.{{Cite web|title=Patrol Bureau – Pinal County|url=https://www.pinalcountyaz.gov/Sheriff/Organizations/PatrolBureau/Pages/home.aspx|access-date=2020-07-30|website=www.pinalcountyaz.gov}}

Region A, or Adam Region, comprises the unincorporated community of San Tan Valley, Gold Canyon, and some areas of Queen Creek.

Region B, or Baker Region, covers the eastern half of the county including the areas of Arizona City, Stanfield, Saddlebrooke, Oracle, and San Manuel.

Air Support Unit

One of the PCSO Air Support Unit’s primary functions is search and rescue. The unit's main craft, a UH-1V "Huey" rotorcraft helicopter, was obtained through the military surplus program{{Cite web|last=Reporter|first=ADI Staff|date=2016-12-08|title=Pinal County Sheriff's Office To Sell Helicopter, Get New Equipment|url=https://arizonadailyindependent.com/2016/12/08/pinal-budget-cuts-force-sale-of-helicopter-and-full-hiring-freeze/|access-date=2020-07-30|website=Arizona Daily Independent|language=en-US}} and is equipped with a hoist to assist in rescues.{{Cite web|date=|title=PCSO helicopter rescues injured hiker on Picacho Peak|url=https://www.pinalcentral.com/eloy_enterprise/news/pcso-helicopter-rescues-injured-hiker-on-picacho-peak/article_0841568c-6d0b-508f-99cb-ddb8e474cbb1.html|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-07-29|website=PinalCentral.com|language=en}} The Air Unit regularly flies Operation Stonegarden missions,{{Cite web|last=TucsonSentinel.com|title=Pinal sheriff's Stonegarden-funded copter carries BP agents near Ajo|url=http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/report//022119_pcso_stonegarden/|access-date=2020-07-30|website=TucsonSentinel.com|language=en}} assisting the U.S. Border Patrol in its efforts.

Anti-Smuggling Unit

The Anti-Smuggling Unit (ASU) is composed of a Sergeant and six Investigators. All operate out of the Criminal Investigations Bureau of the Pinal County Sheriff's Office. The unit targets criminal groups involved in human and drug smuggling.{{Cite web|title=Anti-Smuggling Unit – Pinal County|url=https://www.pinalcountyaz.gov/sheriff/organizations/criminalinvestigationsbureau/pages/antismugglingunit.aspx|access-date=2020-07-30|website=www.pinalcountyaz.gov}} ASU also partners with U.S. Border patrol and Homeland Security.

ASU typically patrols a five-mile stretch of land between the reservation and I-8, attempting to apprehend those crossing illegally there.{{Cite web|last=Hopkins|first=Anna|date=2019-07-01|title=Arizona sheriff says cartels smuggling people and drugs through Native American reservation|url=https://www.foxnews.com/us/arizona-sheriff-cartel-border-reservation|access-date=2020-08-11|website=Fox News|language=en-US}} This desert area south of Maricopa, situated approximately 70 miles north of the border, sees some of the most drug trafficking activity in the Southwest.{{Cite web|title='What comes in here ends up all over the country.' Pinal County deputies work undercover to stop drug smuggling in Arizona|url=https://www.12news.com/article/news/investigations/what-comes-in-here-ends-up-all-over-the-country-pinal-county-deputies-work-undercover-to-stop-drug-smuggling-in-arizona/75-04c25926-553f-4680-a82e-3bda3cf7b5fd|access-date=2020-07-30|website=12news.com|language=en-US}} Smugglers cross the U.S.- Mexico border and walk through the desert for up to a week, until they reach the I-8 corridor. ASU's patrolling of this corridor is often the last line of defense before smuggled drugs enter the Phoenix area.{{Cite web|date=2019-05-24|title=Patrolling the Vekol Valley: A hotspot for human and drug smuggling|url=https://www.kgun9.com/border-watch/patroling-the-vekol-valley-a-hotspot-for-human-and-drug-smuggling|access-date=2020-07-29|website=KGUN|language=en}} PCSO estimates 40% percent of all drugs in the United States enter through Arizona.

K-9 Unit

The Pinal County Sheriff's Office K-9 Unit consists of six handler teams.{{Cite web|date=|title=K-9 Unit|url=https://www.pinalcountyaz.gov/Sheriff/Organizations/PatrolSupport/K9Unit/Pages/home.aspx|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-07-30|website=www.pinalcountyaz.gov}}

Four teams support Patrol with the interdiction of drugs entering and passing through Pinal County along major roadways and highways. K-9s regularly intercept loads of counterfeit fentanyl pills being smuggled along the I-10.{{Cite web|date=|title=PCSO arrests Phoenix woman for transporting drugs on I-10|url=https://www.pinalcentral.com/eloy_enterprise/news/pcso-arrests-phoenix-woman-for-transporting-drugs-on-i-10/article_913221ef-343c-5527-832f-4575c53b24d2.html|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-07-30|website=PinalCentral.com|language=en}} In 2017, PCSO K-9s discovered 550 pounds of marijuana, seven pounds of meth, 69 pounds of heroin and 53 pounds of cocaine.{{Cite web|date=2018-02-03|title=Pinal Co. K-9s work to halt drug flow into AZ|url=https://www.abc15.com/news/state/pinal-county-sheriff-s-k-9s-work-to-stop-drug-flow-into-arizona|access-date=2020-07-30|website=KNXV|language=en}}

Two more K-9 teams are assigned to the Adult Detention Center to assist in maintaining order and detect any contraband attempting to be smuggled into the Adult Detention Facility. The Pinal County Sheriff’s Office has been using K-9’s to serve and protect the County of Pinal for more than 40-years.

Narcotics Task Force

The Pinal County Narcotics Task Force is a multi-agency task force composed of an administrative Sergeant, an operations Sergeant, nine Investigators and an administrative secretary. The PCNTF is tasked with investigating, prosecuting, disrupting and dismantling individuals and/or groups involved in possession, sales, manufacturing, cultivating, trafficking and smuggling of illegal drugs in or through Pinal County and surrounding areas. On average, PCNTF investigates approximately 200 of these case types annually.{{Cite web|title=Narcotics Task Force – Pinal County|url=https://www.pinalcountyaz.gov/Sheriff/Organizations/CriminalInvestigationsBureau/Pages/NarcoticsTaskForce.aspx|access-date=2020-07-30|website=www.pinalcountyaz.gov}}

All operate out of the Criminal Investigations Bureau of the Pinal County Sheriff's Office. The Task Force is a High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) program Initiative/Task Force, which falls under the Southwest HIDTA Group.{{Cite web|title=ICE, Pinal County Sheriff target Arizona drug smuggling organization|url=https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/ice-pinal-county-sheriff-target-arizona-drug-smuggling-organization|access-date=2020-08-11|website=www.ice.gov|language=en}}

Search and Rescue

The Search and Rescue Unit conducts day and night mobile SAR operations, sometimes during adverse weather conditions, in both urban and wilderness environments. Deputies are on call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and at a moment's notice to provide assistance in a crisis.{{Cite web|title=Pinal County Search and Rescue (SAR)|url=https://www.pinalcountyaz.gov/Sheriff/Organizations/PatrolSupport/SAR/Pages/default.aspx|access-date=2020-07-30|website=www.pinalcountyaz.gov}} The SAR Unit searches for children,{{Cite web|last=Staff|first=azfamily com News|title=Teen who went missing in San Tan Valley area found safe|url=https://www.azfamily.com/news/teen-who-went-missing-in-san-tan-valley-area-found-safe/article_ef79e16a-81c8-11ea-8b9e-db896fcca5e7.html|access-date=2020-08-11|website=AZFamily|language=en}} the elderly,{{Cite web|date=2020-07-08|title=Missing Apache Junction woman found dead|url=https://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/missing-apache-junction-woman-found-dead|access-date=2020-08-11|website=Associated Press|language=en-US}} unprepared and injured hikers,{{Cite web|date=2020-03-11|title=Treacherous fall and serious injuries lead to dramatic mountain rescue near Superior|url=https://www.abc15.com/news/region-central-southern-az/treacherous-fall-and-serious-injuries-lead-to-dramatic-mountain-rescue-near-superior|access-date=2020-07-30|website=KNXV|language=en}} lost hunters and downed aircraft.{{Cite web|author=Bob Christie and Walter Berry|agency=Associated Press|title=Plane crashes into Superstition Mountains|url=https://www.eastvalleytribune.com/local/plane-crashes-into-superstition-mountains/article_d8a09f90-1649-11e1-ad45-001cc4c002e0.html|access-date=2020-08-11|website=East Valley Tribune|language=en}}

The Pinal County Detention Center houses on average 600 inmates a day.{{Cite web|title=Sheriff Mark Lamb – Pinal County|url=https://www.pinalcountyaz.gov/Sheriff/AboutPCSO/Pages/Sheriff.aspx|access-date=2020-07-30|website=www.pinalcountyaz.gov}} Inmates are offered several pre-release programs to reduce recidivism, including tablets to help advance their education,{{Cite web|last=Staff|first=KOLD News 13|title=Pinal County inmates to receive tablets in an effort to reduce recidivism|url=https://www.kold.com/2019/07/31/pinal-county-inmates-receive-tablets-an-effort-reduce-recidivism/|access-date=2020-08-11|website=www.kold.com|language=en-US}} free tattoo removal to increase chances of employment,{{Cite web|last=Miller|first=Danielle|date=2020-01-14|title=PCSO offering free tattoo removal for jail inmates in an effort to prepare them for normal life|url=https://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/pcso-offering-free-tattoo-removal-for-jail-inmates-in-an-effort-to-prepare-them-for-normal-life|access-date=2020-08-11|website=FOX 10 Phoenix|language=en-US}} and a designated wing for veteran inmates, called the Housing Unit for Military Veterans, or HUMV.{{Cite web|date=2017-11-07|title=Pinal County Jail Houses Veterans Together, Aims To Reduce Recidivism|url=https://kjzz.org/content/562953/pinal-county-jail-houses-veterans-together-aims-reduce-recidivism|access-date=2020-08-11|website=KJZZ|language=en}}

Since the founding of the department in 1875, there have been 23 Pinal County Sheriffs.{{Cite web|title=Sheriff|url=http://genealogytrails.com/ariz/pinal/sheriff.htm|access-date=2020-07-29|website=genealogytrails.com}}

• Michael Rogers (1875)
• Peter R. Brady (1876–1877)
• John Peter Gabriel (1878–1882 and 1885–1886){{Cite web|title=John Peter Gabriel – Lawman & Gunfighter – Legends of America|url=https://www.legendsofamerica.com/peter-gabriel/|access-date=2020-07-30|website=www.legendsofamerica.com}}
• Andrew James Doran (1883–1884)
• Jere Fryer (1887–1891)
• Lemuel K Drais (1892–93)
• William C Truman (1894–1903)
• Thomas N. Wills (1904– 1907)
• James E McGee (1908–1914)
• Henry D. Hall (1915–1920)
• William A Benson (1925)
• Enis T. Thurman (1921–1924)
• Walter E. Laveen (1925–1938)
• James E. Herron Jr. (1939–1946)
• Lynn Earley (1947–1952)
• Laurence R. White (1953–1961)
• Coy K. De Arman (1962–1974)
• W B Tex Whitington (1975–76)
• Frank R. Reyes (1977–2000)
• Roger Vanderpool (2001–2005)
• Chris Vasquez (2005–2009)
• Paul Babeu (2009–2017)
• Mark Lamb (2017-2024)
• Ross Teeple (2025-)

The Pinal County Sheriff's Office has had reoccurring appearances on A&E's television series Live PD.{{Cite web|title='Live PD' company returning to Pinal County|url=https://www.pinalcentral.com/casa_grande_dispatch/recreation_and_entertainment/live-pd-company-returning-to-pinal-county/article_159849cc-3027-5cac-a38f-ada14bb277c0.html|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-07-29|website=PinalCentral.com|language=en}}

The Pinal County Jail is featured in Season 5 of 60 Days In, a television docu-series on A&E.{{Cite web|title=60 Days In Full Episodes, Video & More {{!}} A&E|url=https://play.aetv.com/shows/60-days-in/season-5|access-date=2020-07-29|website=play.aetv.com}}

The Pinal County Sheriff's Office runs a weekly mini series called Fridays with Frank on YouTube and Facebook which features Deputy Sheriff Frank Sloup conducting traffic stops in an entertaining and educational manner.{{Cite web |last=Oppenheimer |first=Jerry |date=2023-11-15 |title=Cop's traffic stops and pro-drugs views make him YouTube star |url=https://nypost.com/2023/11/15/news/cops-traffic-stops-and-pro-drugs-views-make-him-youtube-star/ |access-date=2025-04-12 |language=en-US}}

• List of law enforcement agencies in Arizona

{{reflist}}

• {{official website|https://www.pinalcountyaz.gov/Sheriff/Pages/home.aspx}}

Category:Sheriffs' offices of Arizona

Category:1875 establishments in Arizona Territory

Category:Government of Pinal County, Arizona