Matthew Thomas has been employed with the Pinal County Sheriff's Office since 1993, starting his career as a Detention Officer and promoting through the ranks to his current position. Matthew has served in several positions, including Detention, Patrol, Traffic, Training, the Police Academy, Motors, Narcotics, General Investigations, and Anti-Smuggling. Matthew Thomas is the Chief Deputy for the Pinal County Sheriff's Office in Arizona, having been promoted in 2017. Matthew is the Sheriff's Executive Officer, serving as second-in-command for the agency. He oversees and manages all operations for over 600 employees and volunteers in a county that covers over 5,400 square miles and has an approximate population of 500,000. Matthew also served 18 years on the Pinal Regional SWAT team as a member for 5 years, as a team leader for 8 years, and finishing as the team commander, serving in that capacity for 5 years. Matthew has held leadership positions for over 23 years of his career and is a graduate of Leadership in Police Organizations and the FBI National Academy, session 261. Matthew has taught from the academy level to advanced level training in law enforcement since 1997> Matthew has taught for Arizona HIDTA, Drug Investigators and Gang Investigators Associations in Arizona, Georgia, Minnesota, Colorado, California, Washington Matthew is also a bestselling author, publishing his book Interceptors: The Untold Fight Against the Mexican Cartels in late 2022, which details the undercover and tactical operations he was involved in or lead against the infamous Sinaloa cartel in the Arizona deserts.