By Jon Johnson
DUNCAN – A trucking owner wanting to get back into law enforcement wants your vote for Greenlee County Sheriff.
Dale Sloan is the Republican nominee for Greenlee County Sheriff. He received that designation by defeating incumbent Tim Sumner in the primary election. He has been endorsed by local state Republican Representatives Gail Griffin and Lupe Diaz and State Sen. David Gowan.
Sloan previously worked for the Apache County Sheriff’s Office for about 8.5 years beginning in 2012.
“When I left the Sheriff’s Office up there it felt like a big part of me was ripped out,” Sloan told the Gila Herald. “That’s the greatest job I ever had.”
According to Sloan, he was born in Morenci and lived in Clifton but raised in Apache County. After leaving the Apache County Sheriff’s Office, he moved back to Greenlee County and settled in Duncan nearly three years ago. He said it was about a year ago he started thinking about running for sheriff at the urging of residents.
Sloan said he has an education in complex cases, writing warrants, and investigating homicides and sex crimes. He believes in the office’s transparency and complains that the current administration does not communicate with the public.
Sloan also said he doesn’t believe in performing “in-house” investigations and that any investigation of employees of the Sheriff’s Office has to be done by an outside organization to maintain integrity and keep the public’s trust. A trust he believes has been lost.
“I’m not anti-government at all – I believe government has its place,” Sloan said. “I just don’t like overreach of government and that’s at any level. And I believe law enforcement falls under that category as well.”
Sloan told the Gila Herald that if elected he intends on protecting the rights of all the residents of Greenlee County.
“The sheriff is the protector of the county – not only in combating criminal activity but ensuring that every single person’s rights are protected regardless of what political side you’re on,” Sloan said.
