Pinal County Sheriff Won’t Arrest Emergency Order Violators

MORE SUICIDES THAN COVID-19 DEATHS AND MORE VIOLENCE

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Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb [Photo from Facebook]

Citing the U.S. Constitution and an uptick in suicides and violent crimes, one Arizona sheriff says it’s time for the COVID-19 executive orders to expire, and until then his deputies won’t arrest anyone for violating the orders.

Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb disagrees with Gov. Doug Ducey’s decision this week to extend the stay-at-home order and to delay reopening all businesses. While he’s not trying “to thumb my nose at the Governor,” he has told Ducey’s office “that we’re going to have to respectfully disagree” about the quarantine orders.

“I’ve got to continue to ask where is the emergency?” Lamb said Friday during an appearance on KFYI’s James T. Harris Show. “When you drive around, I don’t see an emergency.”

Lamb, who took the helm of the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office in January 2017, said his county has recently experienced more suicides than COVID-19 related deaths. And while he’s sensitive to those families that have been hit by the virus, Lamb noted the stated purpose for the quarantine was to flatten the curve and reduce the strain on hospitals

“Well, hospitals are furloughing people because there’s nobody there, so we’ve already achieved that. And the curves have been flat,” he said. “I would be the first to tell you ‘hey, look the numbers are saying we shouldn’t open’ but the numbers don’t say that.”

It is similar sentiments that are leading many businessowners across the state to announce plans to reopen before Ducey’s orders expire. Under state law, violating an emergency order is a Class 1 misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail and a $2,500 fine.

But Lamb was emphatic on Friday that there will no such arrests in Pinal County because his deputies have discretionary authority to issue a warning in such situation.

“We would go and do the best we can to educate people” of the current guidelines, Lamb said. “But I am not going to cite or arrest anybody for these things.”

Lamb said he has two competing options as Pinal County’s top law enforcement official. On one hand is Ducey’s orders, which could result in the sheriff himself facing criminal charges for not enforcing. On the other hand, he noted, is the U.S. Constitution written by the founding father over 200 years ago.

“I swore an oath to the Constitution,” Lamb said. “I’m going to err on the side of caution with the Constitution. And I’m going to uphold the Constitution because that’s where my oath lies.”

He also expressed concern of the unintended societal consequences of Ducey’s recent orders.

“This is what you’re going to get when you pass an order like this – you’re going to turn regular people into criminals, and I refuse to do that,” Lamb said. “They have a constitutional right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and you could articulate and argue that life requires a job and getting out there and being able to pay your bills and support your family and put food on the table.”

Lamb also noted Friday that his agency has had a reduction in calls for service, but the intensity of the calls has “increased dramatically,” such as online sexual predators, domestic violence, and assaults.

“Where we used to be able to talk people down, that’s not happening now,” Lamb said. “We’ve been to more fights in the last couple of weeks than we have been in six months.”

According to Lamb, people’s emotions are high and they are on edge.

“They’ve got bills stacking up, they’ve been cooped up in their homes,” Lamb said. “It’s very volatile. People are really struggling with this.”

It’s a perspective that the sheriff doesn’t believe is getting enough attention from the Governor’s Office.

“I feel like our politicians are completely discounting public safety and the impact it is having on our communities,” Lamb said. “People are not dumb, they see it. And they are getting frustrated. And guess who has to deal with that? The sheriffs and the police chiefs across the state.”