Former Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Jerry Sheridan has announced he will seek the Republican nomination to run for Maricopa County Sheriff in the 2024 General Election.

Incumbent Sheriff Paul Penzone, a Democrat, has made no official statement regarding reelection plans.

Since retiring in 2016 Sheridan, a former Fountain Hills resident, has split his time between a home in Goldfield Ranch adjacent to Fort McDowell and a mountain cabin in Arizona. He ran for sheriff in 2020 but lost to Penzone who was running for his second term. Sheridan says he is once again hearing from former colleagues at MCSO asking him to run again.

“I am running because people are reaching out and asking me to run. I have the support of the vast majority of MCSO employees,” Sheridan said.

Sheridan arrived in Arizona in 1976 at age 18 when his parents retired to Fountain Hills. Being raised the son of a New York City Police officer, Sheridan said he took an immediate interest in what was available in the field for the new community.

In 1977 he signed on with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office as a reserve and served 40 years before leaving in 2016. Sheridan has kept his family roots in Fountain Hills since arriving.

Sheridan said from his perspective Penzone is not providing the proper leadership for MCSO. He said he would institute a leadership program for all supervisors from the top down.

“This is key for all law enforcement across the country,” Sheridan said. “Proper leadership helps attract good personnel that are allowed to accomplish what they want in their careers.”

Although less in the news than it was four years ago, there is still a need for proper support for law enforcement officers and the challenges they face.

“The job they do every day is difficult and it wears on them,” Sheridan said. “They need constant refresher.”

To that end he proposes to use the “Blue Courage” educational program for deputies. He said this program that inspires officers to “embody the noblest of character and unquestioned devotion.”

An effort that is important to Fountain Hills is the MCSO law enforcement contracts to provide services to communities that find it too costly to man and operate a police department.

“I feel pretty strongly regarding contracts,” Sheridan said. “During the ‘90s, I visited Los Angeles to learn how that county serves communities with contract law enforcement. One of the important issues is local control, and there are some issues with contracts.

“To have your own police department is a lot more expensive than people want to think.”

He also noted that in a town with a small department you need to pay patrol officers more to keep them when upward mobility is limited.

“I’ve been keeping the people of Fountain Hills safe my entire career,” he said “Contract towns are a priority for me. The current sheriff does not understand contract policing.”