Give Sheriff Joe the Heave Ho

Published May 30, 2009 @ 03:16PM PT

An article this week by a retired Mesa, Arizona, police officer tells a revealing story about how law enforcement dollars and efforts can get misguided by immigration crackdowns. At the center of the failures detailed in the piece by retired officer Bill Richardson is infamous Maricopa County Sheriff, Joe Arpaio, who is still conning his way into wasting millions of taxpayer dollars on immigration raids while ignoring his real job. By juxtaposing two events that took place the same day in Phoenix, Richardson makes a compelling case for cutting back on the praise - and the cash - that is sent Arpaio's way.

While Arpaio was testifying before the state legislature in support of more money for crackdowns on illegal immigration, a legal scholar across town was releasing a study on the failure of Arpaio's department to investigate serious violent crimes. Apparently, Sheriff Joe is so busy chasing down alleged illegal immigrants that his office ends up simply ignoring many of the real crimes it is supposed to investigate.

The new Goldwater Institute study, entitled "Justice Denied: The Improper Clearance of Unsolved Crimes" finds that Arpaio's office is closing hundreds of cases by "exception," which is usually a very narrow category reserved for cases in which a suspect has died or the law enforcement believes the case will never be solved. Arpaio's office, on the other hand, closes three times as many cases by exception as by arrest. For example, the report profiles one investigation - of the rape of a 14-year-old girl - and found the police work was "delayed, incomplete and showed a strong bias against the female victim."

Meanwhile, the state is sending millions to Arpaio for immigrations crackdowns and he's asking for more. This is the same sheriff who built an air-conditioned unit for his dogs while leaving prisoners in a tent city, and used taxpayer dollars on his dud of a Fox reality show last year.

A Pulitzer-Prize winning series in the East Valley Tribune last year looked inside Arpaio's office to find that while he focused on immigration, the county's residents weren't as safe. It's worth a read.

And maybe it's time for Sheriff Joe to start working on his golf game.

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Totally Agree!!! Sheriff Joe has to go!!!

Posted by D W on 05/30/2009 @ 09:23PM PT
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Matt, do you think we should just sit back and let anybody come across our borders without going through the same immigration process that my ancestors who landed at Ellis Island went through? We can't open up the borders and let anybody into our country without going through the proper channels.

We need more border patrol officers and an impassable fence to keep out the people who enter the US illegally. Arpaio is doing his job and doing it well. There will always be crimes that aren't properly investigated, but to try to hang Arpaio on one screwup after all he has done in trying to keep out the illegals is crazy.

I wonder how many crimes Sheriff Joe has prevented by detaining the illegals. We will never know.

Posted by jack barr on 05/30/2009 @ 09:45PM PT
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(This was a very one-sided article, in my opinion.)
As for air conditioning for his dogs....I'm sure the animal rights activist wouldn't find a problem with it.
We will never be able to stop illegal immigration, but I am sick of paying to incarcerate illegals. The state sending him, "misguided money," is your opinion. If illegal immigration isn't a problem; why is our president spending a billion dollars on better tracking systems, to make sure they're deported faster?
What would you like to see the state spend its money on? (Not that I care, I'm from Ca. we just gave up!)

Posted by L.S. hope on 05/31/2009 @ 01:43AM PT
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I watched a documentary that featured an interview with Arpaio, and... Well, I'll just say that - he didn't seem like a very nice man at all.

He bragged about keeping the dogs inside in an air-conditioned unit, while the prisoners are forced to stay outside in harsh tent city...

It even showed him bragging about having this very info & a picture (if you can believe it, they showed it) - on all of the postcards (= the only postcards) that the prisoners are to send out.

And even worse... He went around signing the post cards, while he was being interviewed.

He went on about how how he makes all the prisoners wear "pink outfits, even their underwear... show them". Seriously, he had some inmates show the camera their pink underwear? And, then complained that one of the inmates was too faded = not pink enough - "well go get some new ones" - I mean yeah, that's REALLY important - lets get someone right on that!

All this was apparently done to embarrass or degrade the inmates self-esteem? That's not the point of prison/jail. And, I'm guessing Arpaio has them wearing pink because its considered "effeminate"?

(At least in Arpaio's mind), I'm guessing. It sounds like homo-phobia on his part - but that's just my opinion - I don't see a reason for any man to be insecure about wearing pink.

But, that seems like the only reason anyone would do that - to make the conditions more "harsh"? (Which seemed to be Arpaio's primary concern, through the whole thing, = Treat them as badly as is legally possible/plausible...)

I mean seriously, pink boxers/clothes somehow equals tough on crime? Gimme a break...

The whole set-up was beyond "tacky" - IDK how to fully describe it. But it was disturbing, to say the least, and not in any sort of "deterrent" sorta way. It was more a "don't live in Arizona" way.

All I could really think about was - "I wonder how many people suffer from heatstroke and whatnot in those conditions?"

And, "How the heck can that be legal treatment of prisoners?" or inmates, whatever. There was a bit where Arpaio went on about how the prisoners would much rather go to the state prison (iirc) - rather than stay in the conditions there in the tent city.

He was also quick to tell the interviewer & camera guy not to touch the electric fence - that it would kill them if they brushed up against it. Now I'm fairly sure that electric fences normally aren't designed to be lethal. They can stop you from moving/escaping with with much less than a lethal shock. And AFIAK, either - the electrified part of the fence is usually up at the top of such fences, not down where someone (like a guard or in this case the film crew) could accidentally be killed. OR, their is another fence/barrier on each side of the "electrified fence"...

The man seemed arrogant & pompous (on top of intentionally cruel) - He seems to really enjoy being a "celebrity", and that just doesn't seem at all like the sort of man you'd really want for Arpaio's job.

Maybe that's just me? But, IMHO he's just the sort of person we (the change.org community) would want REPLACED - along with the rest of the "old guard" politicians, of which Arpaio definitely seems to be - in addition to his title/job as Sheriff.

This whole staged, Reality TV ""Smile . . . You're Under Arrest!" thing (where according to the article in the link - they essentially just spent alot of money & entrapped some people that had outstanding warrants for "minor offenses".)

All this just seems to make it even more glaringly apparent, that Arpaio isn't the right man for that job, and again that's just my opinion...

Posted by Bryan Snowden on 06/01/2009 @ 12:34AM PT
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Nice post, Matt. From what I've heard of the situation, Arpaio is elected and as long as there are more white retirees than Latin@s voting in Maricopa county, they'll keep returning him to office. He does what he does--playing to the prejudice of his constituents--because it works politically.

Posted by Dave Bennion on 05/31/2009 @ 08:31AM PT
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Really Mr. Bennon? You just did the same thing. Not only Latinos are crossing the Mexican Border illegally. But, by singling out a specific race, your trying to collect constituents--of that race--because you need someone to agree with you.

Posted by L.S. hope on 05/31/2009 @ 09:42PM PT
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I think sheriff Joe's Maricopa County has more money than it knows what to do with.

Posted by Clayton Thorpe on 06/23/2009 @ 09:01PM PT
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Matt has worked and volunteered in various capacities in criminal justice reform for several years. When he's not blogging, he works as the Online Communications Manager at the Innocence Project. Views expressed here are Matt's, and don't represent the positions of the Innocence Project.