Sheriff announces intent to run again

By Suzanne Adams Kingman Daily Miner

Tom Sheahan Sheriff Tom Sheahan is seeking a fourth term in office. Sheahan announced his decision Monday afternoon. The county is facing several serious issues, he said, including problems with illegal immigration and the continuing saga in Colorado City. Mohave County has done just as much if not more than Maricopa County to combat illegal immigration. Sheahan said his deputies have been working closely with federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to crack down on the problem and have made several arrests in the past year. Illegal immigrants looking for jobs in the county isn't the only problem the office runs into, he said. Some illegal immigrants turn to crime when they run out of money or can't find a job. Crime by illegal immigrants is having an impact on county finances, he said. Last year, the office responded to a stabbing call in Mohave Valley. Two illegal immigrants had gotten into a fight and one had stabbed the other. The injured immigrant was flown to Las Vegas because of his injuries. Taxpayers ended up footing the bill for the flight, he said. Sheahan said, if re-elected, he plans to continue to work closely with ICE officers to stay on top of the problem. The continuing problems in Colorado City are another concern of Sheahan's. He said the county has made more headway with the issue in the last year than in the previous 50 years. He is currently working with the state and state law enforcement associations to decertify officers in the Colorado City Police Department. Sheahan also said the county plans to see the political leader of the group, Warren Jeffs, arrive in town soon to stand trial. Sheahan was unable to give an exact date but stated that the county had already started to make plans on how to keep Jeffs secure during the trial. Sheahan also touted the work volunteers in the office's search and rescue and volunteer posse had done over the last year, specifically the work the search and rescue team did in handling a weekend rescue at a Chloride mine. The office has also had a lot of success in getting drunk drivers off the streets, he said. He has also worked hard to get competitive pay, new vehicles and state of the art equipment for his deputies. He praised the help he received from the Board of Supervisors. He has also been able to get a number of grants to support the office's Boating Safety program, which has helped in reducing gang problems in Lake Havasu City. However, those funds are under attack by the government. Sheahan has already been in contact with three legislators in order to protect funding for these programs, he said. As for future growth in the county, Sheahan said the biggest problem the office would face is response time. Many new residents are moving into rural areas. There are times when a deputy may respond to a call in Kingman and the next call he responds to is in Dolan Springs. The county will need to hire more deputies in order to combat the problem, he said. Methamphetamine continues to be a problem in the county, he said. Although, the situation has changed slightly, deputies are no longer finding as many meth labs in the county. Now, deputies are finding illegal immigrants smuggling the drug into the county for sale. Law enforcement needs to start educating parents as well as children about the dangers of meth and what to look for if they think their child is using meth. Sheahan has worked in law enforcement for 36 years. He began his career in 1971 as a deputy in the Du Page County, Ill., Sheriff's Office. He moved with his family to Mohave County in 1981 and rose through the ranks of the sheriff's office until he was appointed chief deputy sheriff in 1990. He ran for sheriff in 1996 after the current sheriff, Joe Cook, retired. He ran for reelection in 2000 and ran again, unopposed, in 2004. Both times he won. He has served as the president of the Arizona Sheriff's Association and the Arizona County Attorney and Sheriff's Association. He has also served on the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission and the Arizona Homeland Security Regional Advisory Commission. Sheahan graduated from Northwestern University School of Police Staff and Command in Evanston, Ill., and from the Federal Bureau of Investigation's National Academy in Quantico, Va.

KingmanDailyMiner.com Originally published January 9, 2008

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