By Rusty Bradshaw
Independent Newsmedia

The Sun City Posse is not going away any time soon.

Posse Commander Mary Heiser addressed during the group’s regular business meeting May 2 rumors of the group disbanding. She said the rumors were completely false.

“We are not disbanding,” she said. “That is totally a rumor and people need to stop spreading it.”



The Posse conducts patrols of the community, serving as the eyes and ears for Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office. The Posse conducts a number of other community service efforts, including Vacation Watch, Funeral Watch, Block Watch, assisting MCSO with traffic control at accident and other incident scenes, traffic control at other community events and others.

MCSO officials remain supportive of the all-volunteer Posse, and believe it is pivotal to the county law enforcement agency’s mission.

“The sheriff has said repeatedly, publicly and in the pages of the Independent that the posses are a valuable asset and integral to MCSO’s efforts to be engaged with the community and to keep it safe,” Mark Casey, MCSO public information director, stated in an email. “He remains committed to working with Posse leadership toward those goals.”

He called rumors of Sun City Posse disbandment completely inaccurate.

Capt. Paul Chagolla, MCSO District 3 commander, echoed that statement while thanking Posse members May 2 for their efforts.

“I have one of the largest districts, and what we do would not be possible without the Posse,” he said.

He added Mr. Penzone is supportive of the posses.

“He needs them and wants them,” Mr. Chagolla said.

Mr. Penzone was elected sheriff in the November 2016 election, unseating Joe Arpaio, who held the office for more than 20 years. MCSO is under a lot of scrutiny, Mr. Chagolla said.

“We cannot sacrifice standards, including court orders,” he said, referring also to the posses.

A court order from District Judge G. Murray Snow related to the racial profiling case requires posse members to undergo the same training as sworn deputies. That and other requirements in the order have hurt recruiting for the Sun City Posse because some former and prospective members did not believe it necessary to receive full deputy training when some elements of deputy work, including traffic stops and arrests, are not part of the posse’s scope of activity.

Mr. Chagolla said he knows first-hand the value of the Sun City Posse.

“My first experience with MCSO was a Posse member,” Mr. Chagolla, who grew up in Peoria, said. “When I was young, before I was even interested in law enforcement, I was at the Sun City lake and was told I should not be there.”

He added District 3 would need six more full-time deputies to handle the volume of calls handled by the Posse.