Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanosis facing a bruising backlash over his handling of the Nancy Guthrie hunt in Tucson, Arizona, after a retired SWAT commander claimed that 98 per cent of commissioned officers in his own department had delivered a 'no confidence' verdict in his leadership in an internal morale poll.

The news came after Nanos, who leads the search for 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie, mother ofTodayco-anchor Savannah Guthrie, told NBC News on Tuesday thatinvestigators were 'definitely closer' to identifying whoever is responsiblefor her disappearance from her Tucson home on 1 February. His optimistic tone jarred with at least one former senior colleague, who argues that the sheriff's public messaging is clumsy and his command hollowed out by poor morale.

Appearing on the 'Surviving The Survivor' podcast on Wednesday,former lieutenant and retired SWAT commander Bob Krygieraccused Sheriff Nanos of mishandling both the internal culture of the Pima County Sheriff's Office and the public-facing side of the Guthrie investigation.

Krygier, who spent nearly three decades at the agency, said Nanos had a tendency to get lost in his own delivery when speaking about major cases.

'He is not the best one to deliver those messages most times,' the former SWAT leader said, arguing that Nanos 'gets wrapped up in his thoughts' and even when he is not being challenged 'sometimes just repeats himself over and over'.

That criticism was directed squarely at Nanos' comments on NBC, where the sheriff insisted that detectives were moving closer to a breakthrough, citing 'a lot of intel, a lot of leads' and saying it was now 'time to just go to work'. Krygier suggested that such language risked sounding like spin rather than sober assessment.

Krygier told the podcast that an internal morale survey taken 'a couple years ago' found that 98 per cent of the department had given Nanos a vote of no confidence 'for various reasons'.

'Think about that number,' he said. 'We have roughly 450 commissioned officers. We're not a small agency. This isn't Mayberry. We need to do better.'

According to Krygier, the sheriff did not meaningfully engage with that result. 'He chose not to follow up with the unions and say, "Hey, how can I fix this?"' the former commander claimed, adding that the lack of response 'just makes things more difficult than it has to be'.

The Pima County Sheriff's Department has been asked for comment on Krygier's allegations but had not responded at the time of writing.

Source: International Business Times UK