Mark Lamb (sheriff)

Lamb was born in Hilo, Hawaii. Lamb also spent time living in the Philippines and Panama. Lamb graduated from Chandler High School in Chandler, Arizona. Lamb is fluent in Spanish, having learned it while on a mission through his church in Buenos Aires, Argentina.[1]

Lamb worked for the police department of the Salt River Pima–Maricopa Indian Community for 6 years. There he received the Rookie of the Year, Officer of the Year and Detective of the Year, and Award of Excellence from the Arizona Gang Investigators Association.[1]

In 2012, he joined the Pinal County Sheriff's Office.

In 2017, Lamb was elected to succeed Paul Babeu as Pinal County Sheriff. Lamb came into the department amidst a hiring freeze and a budget shortfall of up to $2 million.[2] Lamb ran his first campaign on the promise to fix the department's budget and staffing shortages.[3] He also set a goal to boost morale within the department and increase employee pay.[4]

Lamb considers himself a constitutional conservative.[5]

Lamb and the Pinal County Sheriff's Office have had reoccurring appearances on A&E's show Live PD.[6] He believes participation in these types of shows helps to "[restore] the humanity to law enforcement." [7]

In November 2019, Lamb called for increased security along the Mexico–United States border to combat drug cartels from harming U.S. National Parks.[8]

In May 2020, Lamb stated he would not enforce a stay-at-home order during the COVID-19 pandemic in Arizona on the basis that he believed it was unconstitutional. In June 2020, he tested positive for COVID-19 a week before his scheduled appearance at the White House for Donald Trump's signing of executive order 139256.[9]

In July 2020, Sheriff Lamb announced the formation of the PCSO Citizens Posse.[10] Similar to a citizens academy, the Citizens Posse is four-hour training session in which participants are taught home safety, constitutional law, search and seizure, the use of force and other police tactics. Applicants must pass a minimal background check. Graduates can also be called to assist deputies in enforcing the law during major incidents.[11] Since the program began, more than 3,000 people have applied.[12]

In 2018, Lamb established the American Sheriff Foundation, a charity.[13] In August 2020, the Arizona Republic reported that the charity had raised more than $50,000 but left at least $18,000 unaccounted for and filed largely blank tax filings.[13]

Lamb ran unopposed for re-election in November 2020 after successfully suing to remove his competition from the ballot.[9]

• Official website
• Mark Lamb at IMDb