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Governor Jan Brewer announced today who will replace Roger Vanderpool as the next director of the Department of Public Safety, and although it’s probably much to the dismay of Sheriff Joe Arpaio, it’s not anti-illegal-immigration blowhard Russell Pearce.
Brewer has appointed Robert Halliday, a 35-year DPS veteran, as the agency’s next director.
Halliday is a U.S. Army combat veteran, who served in the 101st Airborne Division during the Vietnam War. He has served DPS as commander of the department’s Emergency Operations Center, and he commanded the Arizona Counter Terrorism Information Center from 2004-2007.
There were rumors swirling around local news outlets back in October that Pearce was slated for the job as the state’s top cop, but it seems that even Jan Brewer’s not crazy enough to let that happen.
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Brewer did, however, address the rumors, having her press secretary say the governor wouldn’t be able to appoint anyone to the position until 2011.
That, apparently, was bullshit.
Vanderpool is reported to have wanted to stay on for another four-year term as director, but the governor, apparently, wasn’t for it.
“I wish to thank and commend Director Roger Vanderpool for his many years of honorable service to the people of the state of Arizona,” Brewer says in a press release. “Director Vanderpool is a dedicated, principled and humble public servant who has served the Department of Public Safety with distinction.”
Spare us, Jan. If you thought he was so great, he’d still have his job.
