PHOENIX — An Arizona sheriff is launching his own streaming network featuring sheriff’s departments from across the country.
Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb said this is a passion project aimed to showcase law enforcement in the best way.
“I’ve got a few partners on it and obviously because of conflict of interest, this is not something I will be doing through the sheriff’s office,” Lamb told Phoenix TV station KPHO. “No taxpayer dollars are being used for this and I have to carve out my personal time for this. Whatever family time we did have is pretty much gone now.”
The subscription-based network is called “American Sheriff” and will cost $4.99 per month.
Lamb said the money will go to the production crew, the digital aspects of the network and eventually to some charities as well.
After the past year of tenuous police relations nationwide, Lamb said he wants law enforcement to have a voice again.
“They’re going to be able to see ride along action, they’re going to see the real stories of the men and women out there doing this work,” Lamb said. “They’re going to get a chance to see training.”
Lamb knows the community will wonder how he will perform his elected duties as sheriff and run a streaming network.
“I’m going to continue to go out and put in the work I’ve been doing,” he said. “Look, I’ve still put in 50-60 hours a week. This has not changed the amount of work that I do at my agency.”
Lamb previously released his book titled “American Sheriff,” that tells about how he grew up in Hawaii and moved to the Phoenix suburb of Chandler where he graduated high school.
Elected as Pinal County’s 24th sheriff in January 2017, Lamb oversees a county the size of Connecticut and manages more than 650 employees within the department that operates with a $39 million budget.
Lamb also has been a bit controversial in recent years.
In 2020, Lamb said he would not enforce a stay-at-home order during the COVID-19 pandemic because he believed it was unconstitutional.
He later tested positive for the coronavirus.
“I have proven over the last four years that I’m not like other sheriffs,” Lamb said. “I mean, I try to do this job the way I feel is best.”