SIERRA VISTA — In a letter released Saturday, the local U.S. Border Patrol union criticized Cochise County Sheriff Larry Dever and endorsed his Democratic opponent, Norm Bradley.

Signed by National Border Patrol Council Local 2544 President Edward Tuffly, the letter states Dever “failed miserably in the proper supervision and training of some of his employees.”

Advertisement*

The letter specifically mentions “botched investigations and sloppy police work performed by some of his detectives.”

Dever said the union is unhappy with the work done by the Sheriff’s Office’s detectives in investigating the case involving Border Patrol Agent Nicholas Corbett. He is currently on trial in Tucson for his involvement in the death of an illegal Mexican immigrant who was shot after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.

Tuffly confirmed Dever’s point, telling the Herald/Review on Monday that Corbett is on trial because of what he calls the unprofessional investigation done by the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office.

The main point was that the department’s detectives never discovered gloves that the victim reportedly was wearing. Corbett says he was threatened by a rock held by the illegal immigrant.

The gloves were not discovered until more than a year later, the local union president said.

While Dever said his detectives did not do a thorough job when they responded to the scene, he also said the union told Corbett not to “cooperate with our investigation or with the FBI’s.”

Dever said there is more evidence that was presented to the Cochise County attorney, and the decision to prosecute was based on more than the gloves.

The union’s seven-member executive board voted unanimously to endorse Bradley after he asked for it. Tuffly said the committee’s endorsement, representing the 1,000-member union, wasn’t based only on the Corbett issue, noting there are other management problems in the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office.

Speaking to those issues was the union’s executive vice president, Brandon Judd, a Cochise County resident and Border Patrol agent.

Judd is the second cousin of the late Jimmy Judd, who for years was Cochise County sheriff and Dever’s mentor. Judd said Dever has mismanaged funds to hire enough deputies, putting county residents in danger by not having enough protection.

Dever disagrees, noting he has used every dollar provided to him by the Cochise County supervisors and other sources in building up the number of deputies in the department.

With ever-tightening budgets, a request for an additional 24 deputies this fiscal year was denied by the Board of Supervisors, the sheriff said. Of the 86 deputies currently authorized, 80 positions are filled and efforts are being made to fill the six vacancies, Dever said.

Judd said in some cases Border Patrol agents respond to county calls and wait up to an hour before a deputy arrives. He said the county would be better served by Bradley as sheriff.

Dever said on some occasions his deputies wait for two hours for Border Patrol agents to respond to take illegal immigrants off their hands. He also said he has built the department up by providing more pay and by adding deputy positions.

On July 1, Dever received the endorsement of the Arizona State Lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police, based on a vote of the membership, after Cochise County members of the organization recommended the endorsement.

On Oct. 21, Bradley also received the endorsement of the executive board of Arizona Conference of Police and Sheriffs Local 7077.

Affiliates of AZCOPS can choose to endorse candidates on their own. For example, Sierra Vista Police Officers Association president Cpl. Anthony Venditto said his group has chosen not to endorse either candidate.