I love this guy.  Maybe we can get him to run for a national office i.e. training our public officials.


Sheriff Joe Arpaio (in Arizona) who created the tent city jail has jail  meals down to 40 cents a serving and charges the inmates.

He stopped smoking and porno magazines in the jails. Took away their weights. Cut off all but "G" movies. He started chain gangs so the inmates could do free work on county and city projects.

Then he started chain gangs for women so he wouldn't get sued for discrimination.

He took away cable TV until he found out there was a federal court order that required cable TV for jails.
So he hooked up the cable TV again only let in the Disney channel and the weather channel. When asked why the weather channel he replied, so they will know how hot it's gonna be while they are working on my chain gangs.

He cut off coffee since it has zero nutritional value. When the inmates complained, he told them, "This isn't the Ritz/Carlton. If you don't like it, don't come back".

He bought Newt Gingrich' lecture series on videotape that he pipes into the jails.

More on the Arizona Sheriff:

With temperatures being even hotter than usual in Phoenix (116 degrees just set a new record), the Associated Press reports:

About 2,000 inmates living in a barbed-wire-surrounded tent encampment at the Maricopa County Jail have been given permission to strip down to their government-issued pink boxer shorts. On Wednesday, hundreds of men wearing boxers were either curled up on their bunk beds or chatted in the tents, which reached 138 degrees inside the week before. Many were also swathed in wet, pink towels as sweat collected on their chests and dripped down to their pink socks.

"It feels like we are in a furnace," said James Zanzot, an inmate who has lived in the tents for 1 1/2 years. "It's inhumane."

Joe Arpaio, the tough-guy sheriff who created the tent city and long ago started making his prisoners wear pink, and eat bologna sandwiches, is not one bit sympathetic He said Wednesday that he told all of the inmates:

"It's 120 degrees in Iraq and our soldiers are living in tents too, and they have to wear full battle gear, but they didn't commit any crimes, so shut your damned mouths!"

Way to go, Sheriff! Maybe if all prisons were like this one, there would be a lot less crime and/or repeat offenders. Criminals should be punished for their crimes - not live in luxury until it's time for their parole, only to go out and commit another crime so they can get back in to live on taxpayers money and enjoy things taxpayers can't afford to have for themselves.

Edited to add that the opinions expressed here are not necessarily mine; this was sent to me via email.

For the most part he has been great.



But he has his rough spots.

He's actually a real prick.  treats his employees (e.g., deputies) like shit.  Everyone who knew better tired to vote him out.

Yeh, most of the non sworn staff, hate his guts.  They say he don't pay them enough compared to what his salary is.

Course, its the county board of supervisors that decides who gets paid what...

He also helped get our bull dyke governor elected too.
Piss on him.

Do a search for Gerald Hege, a former sheriff in NC.  Note any similarities?  Hopefully your guy turns out better than Hege did.

Quoted: He also helped get our bull dyke governor elected too. Piss on him.

Now that is a streatch.

He ran a add that countered the falls alligations from that idiot whats his name that ran as a independent saying that she was actively protecting homosexual child molesters as Attorney General.

That same idiot was also telling everyone Matt Salmon was going to protect Mormon Polygamist child molesters if elected because he was a Mormon

Quoted: He also helped get our bull dyke governor elected too. Piss on him.

If that's the case, you're right. Piss on him.

Joe Arpaio is the biggest sack of crap to ever wear a uniform.

He is responsible for lawsuits against the county for hundreds of millions of dollars.  He has cost far more then he claims to have saved.  Every year, he promises his deputies raises, and every year he screws them.   He ends up spending the money on his Chief henchman/deupty Heinderschott.

Let's not forget that he has a group of 5 deputies that do nothing but tail his political/legal opponents, wiretap their houses, and try to dig up dirt.  They are his personal gestapo.

Not to mention that he has created an environment in his jails that is criminal itself.  Most of the people in the jails are there awaiting trial.  They haven't even been judged guilty of a crime, yet they are forced to endure such treatment as one meal a day (usually consisting of meat that is "donated"), overcrowding, and having their images put on a 24hr internet webcam.

My favorite thing was that he had signed off on letting Heinderschott retire, so he could collect his $200,000 per year pension, plus he was "rehired" into the exact same job as a civilian at a pay raise of $50,000.  

Anyone who thinks Arpaio is a great person really doesn't know crap about the man.  There is a reason his deputies hate him with a passion, that is only rivaled by our hatred of Hillary Clinton.

Sherrif Joe reminds me alot of Rush Limbaugh.  Fundamentally, I agree with what he has to say, but he's such a media whore/self-promotion machine that I just can't stand the man.

I have a number of friends that are cops/probation officers/DPS.  They'd all just as soon see him go...

I disagree.

I think Arpaio is much worse than Rush could ever be.

he is a sack of shit. as much as i think that crimanls should do "hard" time... making them suffer in tent cities in the 100+ heat is NOT "hard" time, it is torture.  Now, if you could only torture all of the pedophiles and murderers, I'd be all for it... but remember there are plenty of folks in there for such great crimes to humanity such as selling a bag of weed to some stoner.

if you think for one minute that he is about saving the taxpayers shit, find out how much this asshole makes!!!

he is all about JOE ARPAIO and nothing else, he is the most egotistical self-serving sack of dung Arizona has or will know. his fat face is in front of every controversial news sotry he generates not for the benefit of taxpayers, but for the benefit and longevity of his worthless career.

in the end, he is no better than the criminals that he so righteously oversees.

That's funny-when I worked for the man, we got raises, and promotions.  And he was much better than that piece of shit Tom Agnos.  And when did he screw his employees?  Me seems to think that none of you actually worked for the man, have you??  He turned the jails into what they should be-places that lock up scumbags (awaiting trial/not guilty my ass-I can tell you have never worked in a jail)  Instead of places that cater to scumbags.  He is a media whore, but what Sheriff or Police Chief isn't??  May I refer you to all the Chiefs and Sheriffs who lined up behind ole' cancer lungs the other day to whine about the AWB?

Sheriff Joe stands up for his people.  He didn't take a citizen complaint and make you out to be the criminal-like the Agnos administration.  He at least gave you a chance to explain the situation.  And he wasn't afraid to call some whiny crack-whore who had filed a complaint a liar.

  I never saw anybody get treated like a piece of shit-that wasn't a piece of shit.  Like lazy assholes who called in sick all the time,    He got rid of them quick.  And as far as his fat, lard-assed Henderschott buddy, yes that guy is a lardass.  And he doesn't have a neck. And he doesn't deserve a salary.  But  who was complaining??  None of us.  (Except for the asshats in the "Union") The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors are the ones who approved his salary, so talk shit about them, not Sheriff Joe.

Last, but not least-Sheriff Joe never said a bad word about guns.  

And as far as the tents being "torture," you need to grow a pair.  Get real.  Sheriff Joe bought those tents from the Army after Desert Storm and said that if they were good enough for our troops, then they were TOO GOOD for criminal scumbags.  Torture my ass.  Give me a break!!  Go cry to your mommy!!!  I think Hannity is right-America has become Vaginized.  Or was it Oprahized??

he may be a dick, but I think his jail system should be the model for the rest of the nation

i honestly believe there are better ways to make criminals pay for their crimes than to make them suffer.

simple as that.

"Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted."

Just because it's #8 doesn't mean it's not as important as #2

i'm sorry but i think that working in the 110+ heat in a chain gang doing hard labor is cruel, unusual and excessive.

Sherriff Joe is like the Uncle that gets drunk at Christmas every year.  It all starts out amuzing
then he falls and breaks the coffee table knocking grandmas ashes out of the jug and onto the
floor where the dog chases the cat thru and tracks them all over the house.

Sherrif Joe is a first class asshole.

I voted against him in the primary because he uses the media for his own bennifit. He's nothing but a jerk who IS TOUGH on criminals. You guys should see tent city. Really something to stop & look at when driving by in the area. That said, Joe needs to go but the public is really uninformed and just hears "All is well" on the TV/radio news so they pay it no mind.

Joe does need to go... but I will vote for him over the Democratic lib fuck that will oppose him. Got to beat this jerk in the primary next time.

Joe is not to blame for all the problems in the jails.  Maricopa County has the same problems that most law enforcement agencies have... not enough staff, not enough jails, too many inmates.  The county is on a full press to hire to open the new jails.  The starting pay was recently raised a full two dollars an hour, the problem is that there are not enough qualified applicants walking in the doors.  The community raises so many losers, decent people are hard too find.  Turnover is high as well... working in a jail sucks, and everyone moves on, either within the county to better positions, to the streets as Deputies, or to other agencies.

Pay rates are not the decision of the Sheriff, they are decided by the Board of Supervisors.  The Sheriff has recommended huge pay increases that have not been passed.

The tents facility has gotten a lot of press for being tough, but in actuality the inmates prefer to be in the tents over other facilities.

The inmates are not starving.  They do only get two meals a day.  The kitchens follow guidelines on the number of required calories, and the two meals meet those requirements.  No one starves, to the contrary, most inmates put on quite a few pounds after they've been in jail for awhile.  They are not purposely served moldy food.  A lot of the food is donated, and much of it is past the "best when used by date", so stores can't sell it, but that doesn't mean it's not edible.  All food is checked for spoilage before distribution.  If food does arrive spoiled, the inmates can exchange it for unspoiled food.  Many of the Officers working the jails get their meals straight off the cart that is being served to the inmates.  It's kind of like food in the military, sometimes it's good, sometimes it sucks.  

The inmates don't get the Disney channel anymore, it was taken away after the child molesters pointed out how much they loved the Disney movies with the kids in them.  They get ESPN1, ESPN2, the food channel, and Animal Planet.  They also get to watch special sporting events subject to the jail commanders' authorization, such as the World Series, Super Bowl, etc.

Joe IS a media whore, and his "America's Toughest Sheriff" image probably contributes to the lawsuits.  However, frivolous lawsuits by inmates is not something limited to Maricopa County, it's a countrywide problem.  That is a problem that needs to be resolved within the judicial system.

Contrary to the news reported in a local liberal rag, jail staff does not beat blind wheelchair bound inmates for not showing their ID card, or murder inmates at will.  Like street cops, Detention Officers do not strike inmates unless in self defense, and even then it almost never requires that level of force.  Most use of force is "soft hands" or non-lethal weapons.  Any use of force including or above non-lethal weapons goes before a use of force review board.  Lots of paperwork involved.  The Sheriff put cameras in the main intake area so people could see that no one was being beaten, but of course those had to be turned off because it was violating the pre-trial detainees rights, never mind that the local news puts pre-trial detainees on TV all the time.

Pre-trial inmates are not made to work on chain gangs.  And in reality, working the chain gang is a privilege that has a waiting list.  All sentenced (convicted of a crime, doing their time) inmates are put to work.  If they fuck up, they can lose their work status and end up spending their time in a 23 hour a day lockdown.  The only way to regain work status is by working on the chain.  It is completely voluntary though, they can spend their whole sentence in a cell doing nothing if they want.

Most of the pre-trial inmates are many time losers who are in and out of jail all the time.  They've all got priors, better than half have probation violation charges to go along with their new charges.  Decent people who "just made one mistake" never see the inside of a jail housing unit, because they get released on their own recognizance right out of IA court.  Make no mistake, the people in county jails waiting for trial are dirtbags.

You want him, make him your Sheriff.  You can have him.  

There’s not enough money for the jails because of things like Dave Heinderschott (sp). All the guys I knew who were deputies really didn’t like Joe. The guy is a sleazy politician with way too much power.

Quoted: He took away cable TV until he found out there was a federal court order that required cable TV for jails.

I wont comment on the rest of this because I have seen the list posted over and over on the net, but there is no such Federal law. Too many jails are built in the sticks that have no cable reception to have such a requirement. My own county  jail for years got by with 3 stations it received with your average home TV antenna. Now they have satelite dish and the inmates have microwaves and Nintendos.

Quoted: <snip> I love this guy.  Maybe we can get him to run for a national office i.e. training our public officials. <snip> Then he started chain gangs for women so he wouldn't get sued for discrimination. <snip>

Should have no trouble getting the NOW/Feminist/Lez vote. He's a regular Alan Alda.

Quoted: i honestly believe there are better ways to make criminals pay for their crimes than to make them suffer. simple as that. "Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted." Just because it's #8 doesn't mean it's not as important as #2 i'm sorry but i think that working in the 110+ heat in a chain gang doing hard labor is cruel, unusual and excessive.

I absolutely disagree.  Boo hoo, they work outside in the heat.  So do I.  So do thousands of soldiers in Iraq.

Sigh.....

MY 2 cents. Criminals are scumbags. Scumbags do not deserve to live the normal life that law abiding citizens do. As soon as they commit a crime to get sentenced to this prison in Arizona, they are SUPPOSED to forfiet all those ammenities and comforts. For what I know of him now, I like the way he handles those scumbags! Everything else, I can't say. He may very well be the biggest prick alive, however , maybe those scumbags will relize , man I don't want to do anything to come back here!Take care.

Quoted: MY 2 cents. Criminals are scumbags. Scumbags do not deserve to live the normal life that law abiding citizens do. As soon as they commit a crime to get sentenced to this prison in Arizona, they are SUPPOSED to forfiet all those ammenities and comforts. For what I know of him now, I like the way he handles those scumbags! Everything else, I can't say. He may very well be the biggest prick alive, however , maybe those scumbags will relize , man I don't want to do anything to come back here!Take care.

I agree with you. However, there is a growing element of society that views any criminal behavior as a side effect of mental illness. They want to see mental health treatment rather than punishment, as they view the criminal as being incapable of being held responsible for their actions due to the mental illness. This applies to all criminal behavior, not just the temporary insanity plea associated with major heinous crimes.I am not joking about this.We  locally are in need of a jail expansion because 20 years ago they didn't build the jail big enough because many of these same  ninnys spoke up then. We just had  apublic meeting on the proposed expansion, and almost everyone that showed up at the meeting on this sisue was of the camp that I described. It was very frustrating.

Quoted: ...  Make no mistake, the people in county jails waiting for trial are dirtbags.

Innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt?

Quoted: Quoted: ...  Make no mistake, the people in county jails waiting for trial are dirtbags. Innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt?

Damn straight.  INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: ...  Make no mistake, the people in county jails waiting for trial are dirtbags. Innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt? Damn straight.  INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY.

Yep! Even those who are not awaiting trial in Tent City are serving time for petty misdemeanor offenses that most people on this board are GUILTY of committing at one time or other. There are absolutely no Violent Offenders housed there at all. .......Joe Arpaio is a "Horses Ass'.

Quoted: There’s not enough money for the jails because of things like Dave Heinderschott (sp). All the guys I knew who were deputies really didn’t like Joe. The guy is a sleazy politician with way too much power.

Where is this not enough money for jails crap?

They have opened THREE since Joe has been Sheriff.

In the same time Phoenix has gone from being the 9th largest city in the nation to the 5th.

The population of the county has more than doubled.

That is the problem.   Its not really possible to keep up with growth like that- except by passing taxes that would solve the problem not by bringing in money but by killing off the growth.

Hence, the problems with tax-based accounting that runs nearly a year behind.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: ...  Make no mistake, the people in county jails waiting for trial are dirtbags. Innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt? Damn straight.  INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY. Yep! Even those who are not awaiting trial in Tent City are serving time for petty misdemeanor offenses that most people on this board are GUILTY of committing at one time or other. There are absolutely no Violent Offenders housed there at all. .......Joe Arpaio is a "Horses Ass'.

There is no one awaiting trial in ConTents.  Tents is only used for low risk convicted.  Which is why we call them "Con-Tents" for Convicted-Tents.  Many also are on work furlough.

And no, most people do NOT do what these people do, if you think so you have a real serious personality disorder that needs checked.

Quoted: He also helped get our bull dyke governor elected too. Piss on him.

Who? Her?

Quoted: i'm sorry but i think that working in the 110+ heat in a chain gang doing hard labor is cruel, unusual and excessive.

It's voluntary.

Quoted: Quoted: He also helped get our bull dyke governor elected too. Piss on him. Who? Her? www.governor.state.az.us/around_arizona/0401/muslims001.jpg www.governor.state.az.us/around_arizona/0401/muslims002.jpg

Oh shit - I just chucked up my spleen.

Quoted: Quoted: i honestly believe there are better ways to make criminals pay for their crimes than to make them suffer. simple as that. "Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted." Just because it's #8 doesn't mean it's not as important as #2 i'm sorry but i think that working in the 110+ heat in a chain gang doing hard labor is cruel, unusual and excessive. I absolutely disagree.  Boo hoo, they work outside in the heat.  So do I.  So do thousands of soldiers in Iraq. Sigh.....

+1

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: ...  Make no mistake, the people in county jails waiting for trial are dirtbags. Innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt? Damn straight.  INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY.

I have processed thousands of releases.  You know how many not guitly dispositions I've seen?

Are you ready?


One.

i looked up the arrest record on a 42yo today.

40 ARRESTS!  in my county alone.

for most of these mfers jail is just another place to live.  it's not PUNISHMENT.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: ...  Make no mistake, the people in county jails waiting for trial are dirtbags. Innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt? Damn straight.  INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY. Yep! Even those who are not awaiting trial in Tent City are serving time for petty misdemeanor offenses that most people on this board are GUILTY of committing at one time or other. There are absolutely no Violent Offenders housed there at all. .......Joe Arpaio is a "Horses Ass'.

Wrong.  Wrong wrong wrong.

ANYONE who is sentenced to county time goes to the tents.  There is no classification in the tents.  So if you are a close custody when you are unsentenced, if you get sentenced to county time, you go on the yard with everyone else.

If you are a convicted murderer, do your prison time, get out, then get busted for a DUI, possession of marijuana, or whatever, if you get sentenced to county time you go to the tents just like everyone else.

These people are NOT like you and me.

There is no end to the disgusting ways they treat each other and staff.  They assault each other over such important things as candy bars, gambling debts, disrespect, race, "snitching", or nature of charges.

Inmates would gladly kill each other over things like honey buns or card games.

Inmates who are merely *accused* of being a child molester or a snitch can be beaten within an inch of their life by their "cellies", people who are supposed to be their friends.

I used to think "rearrange your face" was a figure of speech, until I saw an inmate I knew who was assaulted, but I didn't recognize him at first because he was beaten so badly.  Ever seen someone with their nose relocated?  This was over a game of spades.

On occasion, inmates will assault other inmates while they are in the chapel.

Inmates also practice other nice behavior such as having their family members (sometimes infants or children) bring drugs or other contraband into visitation areas... and after receiving these items, proceed to stick them up their asses (sometimes so far up their asses that staff cannot see them and the inmate cannot remove them).  Then they go to the hospital to have them removed.  You as a taxpayer are the one who pays for their ambulance ride.

And speaking of their families, frequently their families bring children to visitation areas, then leave them outside, unattended at a jail in a bad part of town where there are dangerous people being released at all times of day.  We're talking children as young as 2 years old.  Visitors often assault each other... they get in physical fights, spit on each other, and threaten each other with weapons over important things such as disrespect or their place in line.

Inmates are quick to steal just about anything, sometimes from each other but mostly county property. They also like to destroy county property. They tear up bedding, towels, mattresses and clothing. They break fixtures, scratch windows/paint/metal, and overflow plumbing by flushing large items down toilets. Sometimes they tip over bunks and throw food trays.

Inmates almost always have something nasty to say to officers, medical staff, civilian staff, and the general public. Swearing, name calling, and insulting disrespectful discourse are the rule. Sometimes they not only insult but threaten and intimidate.  If I had a dollar for everytime someone threatened to kill me, I would have lots of new ARs.

Sometimes they attack officers or other staff, sometimes they plot to take hostages and kill staff. On any day in any housing unit you can find weapons if you are able to search well enough.

You can always tell when an inmate is lying... their lips are moving!

Inmates are not normal people, there is something very wrong with them.  Take a tour of your local county jail, you'll see.

Quoted: Damn straight.  INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY.

So many of our clients are such frequent fliers that I find it hard to believe. You see, the average criminal we deal with starts his or her criminal career as juveniles. They commit juvenile crime after juvenile crime. They spend years in the juvenile system, exhausting every lenient inclination of the Court. When they turn 16, their juvenile criminal careers get sealed, and they start the whole process over again as "adults"...by that time they have figured out how to play the system, using every alternative to incarceration program, every rehab program, etc. After 20 or 30 county-level arrests, they finally go off to state prison...where they tend to start off in minimum security, get shock camp at least once to cut their state bid down, and get paroled wayyy too early, and they usually wind up sitting back in county on a parole violation in no time.
So, it may be easy for you to say "innocent til proven guilty" for a first offender...but guess what..most of these guys were "first offenders" long before they were old enough to be sent to county lock up in the first place.