Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu recently announced his top management team in the sheriff’s office.

“I have a phased plan, which is designed to improve safety and service for Pinal County families,” Sheriff Babeu said. “In an organization with 700 employees, leadership becomes all the more important. I’m proud to announce these top leaders who will serve PCSO.”

Sheriff Babeu replaced the previous top seven leaders and reclassified or eliminated five additional positions. This restructuring will initially produce $400,000 in annual salary savings, which shall be redirected towards hiring additional deputies and key staff positions. Additional deputies assigned to other indirect law enforcement positions were redirected for patrol duties.

Chief Deputy Law Enforcement, Chief Steve Henry: Chief Henry served as Traffic Section Commander for the Chandler Police Department. He has served as acting Patrol Watch and District Commander. As a Sergeant, Henry served in Bicycle Patrol, Neighborhood Services Patrol and in SAU/SWAT in charge of deployment and tactical decisions in high risk police incidents. Henry has also served as an Internal Affairs Investigator and Special Enforcement Detective. Henry earned his Bachelor’s degree in history at Arizona State University and received his Masters of Education from Northern Arizona University. Henry served active duty with the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Army, where he later became a commissioned army officer. He has numerous awards and unit citations, including the Police Medal of Honor.

Director of Community Relations, Cheryl Chase: Chase is a former three-term state representative from Pinal County, where she has built strong relationships with civic, religious and government leaders. Chase resigned her post as Development Liaison at Central Arizona College, where she served since she left the Arizona Legislature. She will represent the sheriff’s office with numerous civic organizations in ongoing partnerships with private, non-profit and intergovernmental leaders.

Executive Officer to the Sheriff, Lt. Blake King: Lt. King resigned as an officer with the Chandler Police Department and will now serve as executive officer to the Sheriff. Lt King is originally from Minnesota, where he earned his Bachelor’s degree in elective studies with concentration in Law Enforcement Studies. He will assist the Sheriff in all official duties and executive projects. He will coordinate long-term goals, organizational improvements and planning at the direction of Sheriff Babeu. Immediately, Lt King will write the general orders for the Sheriff’s Office, which have not been re-written in over eight years. While in Chandler, Lt. King received the meritorious service award, lifesaving award and the prestigious Medal of Honor.

Grants Administrator, Lt. Marty Moreno: Lt. Moreno has retired after 25 years service with Tucson Police Department and is currently a program manager with the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety. Lt. Moreno’s years of experience as a law enforcement grants administrator makes him a perfect fit for PCSO. Lt. Moreno’s responsibilities will focus on coordinating the application and management of grant monies. PCSO does not have a coordinator and, therefore, lost millions in state and federal monies.

Training Coordinator for Posse and Mounted Unit, Chuck Higgins: Chuck Higgins started the original posse for PCSO and has remained active in the PCSO Mounted Unit. He is professionally certified as a public accountant, where he has a degree as a training coordinator for our volunteer posse and certified mounted unit. We shall grow our posse two or threefold to enhance service and perform such functions as transporting prisoners for deputies. This shall keep deputies in neighborhoods and responding to calls, rather than transporting prisoners to Florence and spending hours on booking, processing of paperwork, fingerprints and photographs.

Chief Deputy-Adult Detention, Chief James Kimble: James Kimble has served as Deputy Warden of the Central Unit of Florence Complex, which houses medium and maximum custody prisoners. He was responsible for the daily operations of the 1,161-bed facility and 315 full-time employees. Kimble also developed and negotiated two provisional out-of-state private facility contracts for the care and custody of 2,064 Arizona DOC inmates. Kimble and his wife Jodi relocated to Arizona from Illinois, where Kimble started his 17-plus year corrections career in the Joliet Correctional Center, where he was named Correctional Officer of the Year. He was promoted through the ranks and became Assistant Superintendent of Programs and Operations of the Illinois Youth Center in St. Charles, a medium and maximum-security facility for juveniles. Kimble earned a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Law Enforcement with minors in psychology and security from Western Illinois University. He is a member of the American Correctional Association and is certified with the Correctional Administrators Academy.

Cmdr Operations/Security, Cmdr Terry Johnson: Cmdr Johnson retired from the Arizona Department of Corrections as a Deputy Warden with over 20 years service. He recently resigned as Chief of Security of the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) in Florence.

Cmdr Support Services, Cmdr Jayme Valenzuela: Cmdr Jayme Valenzuela has 15 years service with the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office as a detention officer, civil deputy, patrol deputy and investigator. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal for his performance at PCSO. Valenzuela ran for Pinal County Sheriff and is currently the Vice-Mayor of Superior. Valenzuela and his wife Nancy have three grown daughters and four grandchildren.

Cmdr Accreditation, Cmdr Joe McAuliffe: Cmdr. McAuliffe has served on the Labor Management committee, was a member of the police pension board and has experience with employee performance projects and evaluation systems. Cmdr. McAuliffe served 11 years as a police officer, including field training officer and crime prevention officer. He also has military police experience, including K-9 handler.

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