Sheriff candidate would step up community policing

San Tan Valley resident Jack McClaren has formed an exploratory committee for Pinal County sheriff.

McClaren currently serves as a constable in Apache Junction for one of the county’s eight Justice of the Peace courts. The justice of the peace handles smaller criminal and civil cases and the constable enforces the court’s warrants and other orders.

Along with his elected position as constable, McClaren is a reserve officer on motorcycle detail with the Florence Police Department.

He worked for the Sheriff’s Office from 1993 to 2006, where he moved up through the ranks from deputy to commander.

McClaren, a Republican, said he has 18 years of “progressive” law enforcement experience.

“I am a public servant and will continue being a public servant,” he said. “I am a board member for Boys and Girls Club and a graduate of Project CENTRL, a two-year leadership program.”

If elected, McClaren said he would increase community policing efforts throughout Pinal County.

“I want to have deputies participating in block watches and in public safety events,” he said.

Along with safeguarding single-family homes from crime, McClaren said he would use community policing as a tool to rid crime from apartment complexes, businesses and storage facilities.

“I want to train managers of storage facilities on things like lighting and reporting crime,” he said.

McClaren was born in Phoenix and moved to San Tan Valley in 1971. He served in the U.S. Army from 1977 to 1980 and was honorably discharged.

He followed in his father’s footsteps and worked as a journeyman glass worker until he joined the Arizona Department of Corrections, where he worked for three years.