On March 12, Camp Verde Marshal Nancy Gardner resigned after an extensive investigation by the Arizona Department of Public Safety found she had misused public funds and improperly treated employees.
For the past two months, Camp Verde has been lacking a top law enforcement official. Camp Verde Marshal’s Office Cmdr. Brian Armstrong has been serving as acting marshal since October, when Gardner was first placed on suspension.
Last week, Camp Verde hosted three new candidates interviewing to take over as the town’s new marshal full time.
Armstrong is one of the three finalists, having impressed some of the town’s officials with his ability to step in when he was unexpectedly elevated to the top job. He is joined by Randy Foster, the chief of police for Bloomfield, N.M., and Jason Negron, a captain in the South Whitehall Police Department in Allentown, Penn.
A fourth candidate had been initially chosen as a finalist, but was unable to attend the in-person interview this week due to a family emergency, leading to him removing his name from consideration.
“They have to have had experience in a wide variety of aspects of law enforcement, and that’s what all the candidates have, whether it’s dispatch, records, patrol, administration or grants,” said Town Manager Russ Martin, who is leading the search and will be making the final decision on the new marshal.
In addition to Armstrong, Martin sought candidates who had worked in leadership roles in towns similar to Camp Verde.
“The idea is that they’ve experienced a lot because they have to be chief of everything in a small town,” Martin said. “You do expect them to have a wide variety of skills, and I want someone who’s been in every condition, who’s either done it and/or supervised it.”
Martin interviewed the candidates and they were given a chance to meet with the public Thursday, May 17, at the Town Council Chambers and Friday, May 18, at the Camp Verde Community Library.
Armstrong said being a finalist for marshal is a welcome surprise after being thrust into leadership unexpectedly a few months ago.
“Being a police chief or marshal was on my radar, but if you had told me a year ago that it was going to come so soon, I would have thought you were crazy,” he said.
Armstrong said that after a career in law enforcement, serving as acting marshal has been an education on how to manage a police force not just in terms of its usual law enforcement duties, but interacting with the public as the marshal does.
“It’s just been a great experience to go through the process, whether I get it or not,” he said.
Foster, the police chief from Bloomfield, N.M., said he feels that although he is not a local of Camp Verde, his experience in Bloomfield, another small desert town by a river, makes him a perfect fit for Camp Verde. Foster has spent four years as the chief in Bloomfield, in addition to previous experience as a deputy in Santa Fe, N.M., and in numerous positions in Los Alamos, N.M.
“I’m a big proponent of interacting with the community, interacting with the businesses, and especially with the youth,” Foster said, mentioning his practice of setting up basketball games between the Bloomfield Police Department and local kids. “I’m just at the point where I could retire in New Mexico, but I’m not done working.”
Negron’s previous position in Pennsylvania did not involve working in a desert town like Camp Verde, but he comes to the application with years of ties to the area. He has been visiting the Verde Valley every other year for the past seven years, and got married in Sedona two years ago.
“I don’t have any bad experiences of meeting the wrong people,” Negron said of the area that he’d like to spend the second half of his life in. “I would really love to call the Verde Valley home.”
During his tenure with the South Whitehall Police Department, Negron worked to get his department accredited by the Pennsylvania Law Enforcement Accreditation Coalition, something only 10 percent of Pennsylvania police departments achieve. His was also the first department in the county to start working with body cameras.
“I’m very proud to have worked there, proud to be part of that process,” Negron said.
Negron said he was impressed by what he has seen of the Camp Verde Marshal’s Office so far, and hopes that he can bring his experience with complicated law enforcement processes to a position as marshal.
“It seems they really have their act together,” Negron said. “I could offer a level of professionalism to maintain what they’ve achieved.”
Martin said he hopes to announce a final decision sometime this week, but asks that people be patient, since he is focused on making the right choice. He said maintaining trust within the marshal’s office among the rank and file officers is the most important consideration, especially after the difficulties left over from Gardner’s tenure.
“I think a lot of them are waiting to make sure,” said Martin of the employees at the marshal’s office. “They’re all anxious to be able to move forward. That is really the biggest challenge I think.”
[Editors Note: The print version of this article incorrectly identified two of the marshal candidate photographs. A correction can be found in next week’s issue of the Camp Verde Journal.]
Jon Hecht can be reached at 634-8551, or email jhecht@larsonnewspapers.com
