The Navajo County Sheriff’s Office has hired Brian Swanty as the new chief deputy for the department. Swanty began his 28-year law enforcement career as a reserve officer for the Show Low Police Department in 1991 following his graduation from the Arizona Law Enforcement Training Academy (ALETA) in Tucson. Swanty transitioned to the Arizona Department of Public Safety as a state trooper in 1993 where he was stationed in southern Apache County. As a trooper, Swanty served in the Highway Patrol Division in Apache County, Navajo County and the metro Phoenix freeway as a motorcycle trooper. Swanty promoted to the rank of sergeant in the Highway Patrol Division in 2006 and was assigned to Pinal County. Swanty served as the supervisor of the Metro East DUI Enforcement Unit in Phoenix before transferring back home to Show Low. Swanty served as the Highway Patrol Supervisor in Show Low from 2007 to 2014. In 2014, Swanty was assigned as the Navajo/Apache/Gila Gang Enforcement Squad Supervisor (GIITEM). While assigned to GIITEM, Swanty supervised a group of task force officers partnered with the FBI Indian Country Violent Crime and Gang Task Force. In 2016, Swanty was assigned to organize and supervise a new specialized unit in the Northern Highway Patrol Bureau focusing on vehicular crimes and criminal collision investigation. Swanty was promoted to the rank of captain in the criminal investigations division in 2017. Swanty was assigned to the Intelligence Bureau at the Arizona Counter Terrorism Intelligence Center (ACTIC) in Phoenix. Swanty served as an intelligence commander over the Threat Mitigation Unit, Conspiracy Unit, Financial Investigations Unit and the Maricopa Highway Interdiction Team. Swanty also served as the Central Gang Enforcement Commander before being assigned to the Investigations Bureau assuming command over the Northern Investigations District. As the Northern Investigations District Commander, Swanty oversaw state level criminal investigations in the northern six counties of Arizona, focusing on drug trafficking organizations. Swanty was the co-founder of the White Mountain DUI Task Force in 2004, which led to the creation of the Route 66 DUI Task Force in 2018. Swanty led the capture of the notorious national fugitives, John McCluskey and Casslyn Welch, who had escaped from a Kingman prison and went on a nationwide violent crime spree. The fugitives were captured in a remote campground in Southern Apache County in 2010. Swanty served as the case supervisor for a two-year, multi-agency, gang related multiple homicide investigation on the Navajo Nation involving numerous Redskin Kingz (RSK14) criminal street gang members who were ultimately convicted and are now serving extensive sentences in federal prison. Swanty has made his home with his wife of 26 years and five sons in Show Low since 1998. Swanty is a graduate of Blue Ridge High School and attended kindergarten and Head Start on the White Mountain Apache Reservation. Swanty is a second-generation lawman in the area, as his father served as a state trooper in Navajo and Apache counties, with assignments in Springerville, Whiteriver, Pinetop and Show Low in the 1970’s and 1980’s.
