Clarence William Dupnik (born January 11, 1936) is a retired

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

law enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of government who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by discovering, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms governing that society. The term en ...

official. Dupnik was appointed Sheriff of

Pima County, Arizona Pima County ( ) is a county in the south central region of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,043,433, making it Arizona's second-most populous county. The county seat is Tucson, where most of the population ...

, in February 1980 to fill a vacancy rising from the resignation of his predecessor, Richard Boykin. He won election in his own right in September 1980, and was re-elected every four years until he retired in 2015. Dupnik is a member of the Democratic party.

Life and career

Dupnik was born in

Helena, Texas Helena is a ghost town in Texas, approximately southeast of San Antonio in Karnes County. The seat of Karnes County from 1854 to 1894, Helena was once known as the self-proclaimed "toughest town on earth" in the mid-19th century. It was named f ...

, and grew up in

Bisbee, Arizona Bisbee is a city in and the county seat of Cochise County in southeastern Arizona, United States. It is southeast of Tucson and north of the Mexican border. According to the 2020 census, the population of the town was 4,923, down from 5,575 i ...

. He attended the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...

in Tucson. He graduated from

polygraph A polygraph, often incorrectly referred to as a lie detector test, is a device or procedure that measures and records several physiological indicators such as blood pressure, pulse, respiration, and skin conductivity while a person is asked an ...

training school Keeler Institute in Chicago, the Southern Police Institute at the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public research university in Louisville, Kentucky. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one of ...

, and the Urban Affairs Executive Institute at

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

. He joined the

Tucson Police Department The Tucson Police Department is the law enforcement agency responsible for the city of Tucson, Arizona. Sworn members of the Tucson Police Department are commissioned as peace officers by the Arizona Peace Officers Standards and Training (AZPOST ...

in 1958, as a Patrol Officer, eventually rising to Major in charge of Field Operations. In 1977 he was appointed Chief Deputy with the Pima County Sheriff's Department, and in 1980 he was appointed Sheriff. He was elected seven times to four-year terms as Sheriff. Because Pima County shares a border with

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, Dupnik's office handles a wide range of

illegal immigration Illegal immigration is the migration of people into a country in violation of the immigration laws of that country or the continued residence without the legal right to live in that country. Illegal immigration tends to be financially upwar ...

Crewdson, John M. (July 10, 1980)
"14 Rescued in Desert Are Named; Victims May Not Be Identifiable"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''; accessed May 3, 2017. and

drug trafficking A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via insuffla ...

matters.

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

(April 22, 1989)
Mexican Suspect Held In Torture Deaths of 12
''The New York Times''; accessed May 3, 2017. He won the contest to name the

Tucson Toros The Tucson Toros were a professional baseball team based in Tucson, Arizona, in the United States. The original Toros were a Triple-A minor league baseball team in the Pacific Coast League from 1969 to 1997, where they won the PCL Championship in ...

baseball team.''Tucson Toros 1997 Media Guide''. Tucson: Tucson Toros Baseball Club, 1997. On June 22, 2011, Dupnik announced he would be dedicating about 20 officers to a task force to jail people for letting off fireworks on the 4th of July, to protect against sparking new wildfires.

Political views

Dupnik was a vocal opponent of Arizona's anti-illegal immigrant bill

SB 1070 The Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act (introduced as Arizona Senate Bill 1070 and commonly referred to as Arizona SB 1070) is a 2010 legislative Act in the U.S. state of Arizona that was the broadest and strictest an ...

. In April 2010, Dupnik criticized the law, calling it "racist", "disgusting", and "stupid". In September 2010, Dupnik criticized the

Tea Party movement The Tea Party movement was an American fiscally conservative political movement within the Republican Party that began in 2009. Members of the movement called for lower taxes and for a reduction of the national debt and federal budget defic ...

at an immigration forum, publicly claiming the movement was associated with bigotry.

Killing of Jose Guerena

Dupnik received worldwide criticism over his defense of the botched SWAT team raid of Jose Guerena that left the former Marine dead. Dupnik openly stated that the raid was justified and told ''

Arizona Daily Star The ''Arizona Daily Star'' is the major morning daily newspaper that serves Tucson and surrounding districts of southern Arizona in the United States. History L. C. Hughes was the Arizona Territory governor and founder of the ''Arizona Star'', ...

'' columnist Josh Brodesky that he may never release the search warrants and police affidavits. Dupnik defended the police who left Guerena, after being shot 60 times in 7 seconds, inside his house while paramedics were prevented from entering for over an hour.

2011 Tucson shooting

Dupnik's office was responsible for security and later oversaw local response and investigation of the

2011 Tucson shooting On January 8, 2011, U.S. Representative Gabby Giffords and 18 others were shot during a constituent meeting held in a supermarket parking lot in Casas Adobes, Arizona, in the Tucson metropolitan area. Six people were killed, including feder ...

. Dupnik stated that he felt that the level of vitriol in political discourse created an atmosphere where violence was likely. "It's not unusual for all public officials to get threats constantly, myself included. That's the sad thing about what's going on in America: pretty soon we're not going to be able to find reasonable, decent people willing to subject themselves to serve in public office."Hulse, Carl and Zernike, Kate (January 8, 2011)
Bloodshed Puts New Focus on Vitriol in Politics
''The New York Times''; accessed May 3, 2017. Conservatives criticized Dupnik's comments as misplaced and uninformed. In an interview with

Megyn Kelly Megyn Marie Kelly (; born November 18, 1970) is an American journalist and media personality. She currently hosts a talk show and podcast, ''The Megyn Kelly Show'', that airs live daily on SiriusXM. She was a talk show host at Fox News from 200 ...

, Dupnik stated that he had not seen evidence linking the shooting to discussions in the media, but believed the issue had to be raised.

References

External links

Clarence Dupnik profile
via Pima County Sheriff's Department {{DEFAULTSORT:Dupnik, Clarence 1936 births Living people People from Karnes County, Texas Arizona Democrats Arizona sheriffs People from Bisbee, Arizona People from Tucson, Arizona American municipal police officers University of Arizona alumni University of Louisville alumni Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni People from Pima County, Arizona