(The Center Square) – Maricopa County residents must decide who they want as Maricopa County Sheriff in November, but the choice may be difficult as both candidates have a history of law enforcement misconduct ranging from sexual harassment to violating federal court orders.

Democrat Tyler Kamp

Democratic candidate Tyler Kamp, a former Phoenix police officer, has a history of investigating and reporting misconduct, including allegations of sexual harassment, by rookie officers under his command while he was with the Phoenix Police Department.

The woman was not named in the report because she was considered the victim. The report was filed on Jan. 23, 2023, after Kamp had retired from the Phoenix Police Department. The report includes screenshots of text messages Kamp sent to the woman in which he commented on her appearance or pressured her into unwanted sexual acts.

“Beginning on November 30, 2020, former REDACTED received text messages from Lt. Tyler Kampf inviting her out for drinks and harassing her with sexually-charged comments about her appearance,” the report states. “For example, Lt. Tyler texted her, 'Yoga pants?? Wow, I missed that… Um, REDACTED, please give me some notice next time.'”

Kamp is married and has four children, but when interviewed about the allegations, he said he did not remember sending those messages.

“I have in no way harassed her,” Kamp said in the report. “We had conversations before she worked for me. Any friendly conversations we had, even if they were flirtatious or playful, were entirely mutual and at her request.”

The report concluded that there were violations of AR 2.35, the city's sexual harassment regulation, but because the report was filed after Kamp left the company, it has not been determined whether further action is required, and no action has been taken on the report at this time.

Kamp also admitted to illegally using law enforcement databases for personal use.

“This was a breach of control on my part,” Kamp said during the Arizona Horizon debate, which aired on PBS on Sept. 12. “Someone needed information. Their own information. I provided it. And that was 12 years ago.”

Additionally, Benjamin Fisk, president of the Maricopa County Law Enforcement Association, sent a letter to the county recorder's office seeking clarification on the financial disclosure letter Kamp submitted as part of his candidacy application, providing evidence of multiple inconsistencies in the report.

The letter states Kamp revealed that Goodwill of Central and Northern Arizona was his only source of income from April 2023 to April 2024. However, his LinkedIn account shows that his only employer during that time period was Thrive Services Group. Although there is overlap in the management of both organizations, they are classified as two separate legal entities and must be reflected in tax documents.

Additionally, Kamp worked as director of investigations and law enforcement development for the National Justice Mission in Ghana from August 2021 to March 2022, his LinkedIn account states. While this is outside the covered period, his tax documents show he was paid $148,162 in compensation by the organization between April 2022 and March 2023. In his letter, Fisk requested that the Recorder's Office obtain explanatory information from Kamp and that he submit amended financial disclosure statements, if necessary.

“Kamp has a long and regrettable history of not following the law,” Fisk said in the letter. “Voters deserve absolute transparency from candidates for public office.”

Kamp's campaign released the following statement in response to the letter: “Jerry Sheridan has been embarrassed and now his allies are trying to distract him. This letter is a prime example of grasping at straws, but it is not surprising given Mr. Fisk's record. We agree that voters should be well informed, therefore we encourage you to watch the Arizona PBS debate that aired last week, where Jerry Sheridan hinted he would be open to defying federal judges again and acknowledged his place on the Brady List.”

Republican Jerry Sheridan

Republican candidate Jerry Sheridan, who served as the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office's chief deputy for 42 years, acknowledged during the debate that he is on the Brady List, a list of public safety employees accused of misconduct.

This stems from Sheridan being charged with contempt of court for failing to comply with a court order in 2016. When Sheridan became chief deputy sheriff, he inherited a six-year legal battle that arose from MCSO deputies racially profiling Hispanic people for traffic violations and attempting to deport illegal immigrants.

Shortly after Sheridan was promoted to chief deputy sheriff in 2013, Maricopa County Judge Snow issued an order ordering then-Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio to make changes to prevent the misconduct from continuing. They were required to install monitors to track MCSO activities, log all traffic stops, increase officer training and radio in the basis for all traffic stops before making contact with anyone in a vehicle.

However, in 2016, the court found that MCSO leaders had violated these court orders after evidence emerged that MCSO had not complied with required monitoring and oversight and that video recordings of traffic stops had been hidden from the court. Additionally, audio recordings were made public that revealed Sheridan telling subordinates that the court's decisions were “absurd” and “fake.”

Sheridan acknowledged this during the debate, saying, “I think the people of this county want a leader who is not afraid to do the right thing when the right thing needs to be done, even if that means disagreeing with a federal district court judge and suffering the consequences.”

That court decision and subsequent consent decree increased taxpayer dollars dedicated to MCSO oversight by $350 million, a problem both candidates acknowledge, but they have different approaches to how to address it.

Sheridan said the biggest expense was ordering MCSO to hire 40 new sergeants, which he said is understaffed and adds oversight and costs that aren't needed under MCSO's current management.

Kamp argues the order is no longer necessary now that a new administration is in place and that delays in investigating wrongdoing should be addressed.

“The backlog of misconduct investigations needs to be cleared up because it impedes employee mobility and promotion possibilities and negatively impacts career development,” Kamp said. “Court orders are negatively impacting recruitment and retention. Morale is also declining.”

Sheridan's campaign did not respond to a request for comment.