SHERIFF JOE

[brnidokiegurl 0]

Oh, there's MUCH more to know about Sheriff Joe!

Maricopa County was spending approx. $18 million dollars a year on stray animals, like cats and dogs. Sheriff Joe offered to take the department over, and the County Supervisors said okay.

The animal shelters are now all staffed and operated by prisoners. They feed and care for the strays. Every animal in his care is taken out and walked twice daily. He now has prisoners who are experts in animal nutrition and behavior. They give great classes for anyone who'd like to adopt an animal. He has literally taken stray dogs off the street, given them to the care of prisoners, and had them place in dog shows.

The best part? His budget for the entire department is now under $3 million. Teresa and I adopted a Weimaraner from a Maricopa County shelter two years ago. He was neutered, and current on all shots, in great health, and even had a microchip inserted the day we got him. Cost us $78.

The prisoners get the benefit of about $0.28 an hour for working, but most would work for free, just to be out of their cells for the day. Most of his budget is for utilities, building maintenance, etc. He pays the prisoners out of the fees collected for adopted animals.

I have long wondered when the rest of the country would take a look at the way he runs the jail system, and copy some of his ideas. He has a huge farm, donated to the county years ago, where inmates can work, and they grow most of their own fresh vegetables and food, doing all the work and harvesting by hand. He has a pretty good sized hog farm, which provides meat, and fertilizer. It fertilizes the Christmas tree nursery, where prisoners work, and you can bu y a living Christmas tree for $6 - $8 for the Holidays, and plant it later. We have six trees in our yard from the Prison.

Yup, he was reelected last year with 83% of the vote.

Now he's in trouble with the ACLU again. He painted all his buses and vehicles with a mural, that has a special hotline phone number painted on it, where you can call and report suspected illegal aliens. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement wasn't doing enough in his eyes, so he had 40 deputies trained specifically for enforcing immigration laws, started up his hotline, and bought 4 new buses just for hauling folks back to the border. He's kind of a 'Git-R Dun' kind of Sheriff.

TO THOSE OF YOU NOT FAMILIAR WITH JOE ARPAIO, HE IS THE MARICOPA ARIZONA COUNTY SHERIFF, AND HE KEEPS GETTING ELECTED OVER AND OVER THIS IS ONE OF THE REASONS WHY:

Sheriff Joe Arpaio (In Arizona ) who created the ' Tent City Jail':

He has jail meals down to 40 cents a serving and charges the inmates for them.

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 Gonn a 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's lecture series on videotape that he pipes into the jails.

When asked by a reporter if he had any lecture series by a Democrat, he replied that a democratic lecture series might explain why a lot of the inmates were in his jails in the first place.

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 T he T ENTS for 1 year. '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 So ldiers Are Living In Tents Too, And They Have To Wear Full Battle Gear,

But They Didn't Commit Any Crimes,So Shut Your 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.

[Scott & Lai 12]

[Sister Fracas 5]

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

That should be enough to keep folks out of his jail...

[Ban Hammer 13,641]

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

That should be enough to keep folks out of his jail...

a sure incentive there!

[Steph0814 1]

YEAH! Way to go Sherriff.....we need someone like that in Atlanta! ASAP, I live in an area where let me just say I would really like to see someone like him come in and change it...

[Empress of Groovy 373]

All that would be much more compelling if Maricopa County didn't have dismal crime statistics across just about every category. Sheriff Joe has had 16 years to help make some real changes, yet he continues to focus on attention-getting policies like tent city, pink underwear, and green bologna. Now he's jumped on the immigration bandwagon even though it's been a big issue here for two decades. He's decided that his deputies should bypass federal authorities altogether and detain "suspected illegal immigrants" instead of turning them over to ICE. So, apparently the illegals in this town aren't put off by the prospect of wearing pink underwear either. Hmm... I wonder if he should start airing commercials in Mexico.

I do like his persona, but I think he's a self-promoter more interested in his own notoriety than actually improving the state of affairs in Maricopa County.

Of course, I'm a little pissed off at the moment 'cuz I discovered Saturday that my car's two front wheels had been stolen right off the car. Which was parked in an underground parking garage in a gated complex in a pretty nice part of Phoenix. The perpetrators apparently weren't scared straight by the prospect of Newt Gingrich lectures.

Man, I can't wait to get outta this town.

[Sister Fracas 5]

All that would be much more compelling if Maricopa County didn't have dismal crime statistics across just about every category. Sheriff Joe has had 16 years to help make some real changes, yet he continues to focus on attention-getting policies like tent city, pink underwear, and green bologna. Now he's jumped on the immigration bandwagon even though it's been a big issue here for two decades. He's decided that his deputies should bypass federal authorities altogether and detain "suspected illegal immigrants" instead of turning them over to ICE. So, apparently the illegals in this town aren't put off by the prospect of wearing pink underwear either. Hmm... I wonder if he should start airing commercials in Mexico.

I do like his persona, but I think he's a self-promoter more interested in his own notoriety than actually improving the state of affairs in Maricopa County.

Of course, I'm a little pissed off at the moment 'cuz I discovered Saturday that my car's two front wheels had been stolen right off the car. Which was parked in an underground parking garage in a gated complex in a pretty nice part of Phoenix. The perpetrators apparently weren't scared straight by the prospect of Newt Gingrich lectures.

Man, I can't wait to get outta this town.

hmmm...interesting other side to this story...

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Amnesty International has a number of rather disturbing reports on Maricopa County...

[nane1104 146]

And the idea with the animal shelter isn't really that new and innovative either. I just recently have seen a documentary about different projects where inmates from different jailes take care and train dogs so they can be put up for adoption.

I like programs like that because for a change, there is nobody getting the short end of the stick.

[Teacher Mark 53]

The biggest problem I have with that guy and his policies is that there are men and women in that facility that have not been proven guilty yet. Sure 95% probably are, but the other 5 aren't (fuzzy math disclaimer).

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Arpaio is an attention #######. He'd take over running the state of Arizona if he could find some legal maneuver to do so. A lot of people buy into his tough on criminal shtick, but that's about all it amounts to...shtick. My brother's worked for the department for over 20 years and can't stand Arpaio...and my brother is a Libertarian who votes Republican.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

As to criminals "living in luxury" - I think its a clicheed fantasy as far as the US goes. This country has some of the harshest jail environments in the developed world.

Certainly from what my uncle-in-law (a correctional officer at a minimum security jail in CA) has told me - it sounds pretty damn far from a life of luxury. In other words - its a playground for racist gangs.

[nane1104 146]

Yepp, just watch a show like "lockup", I have never seen any luxury in those jails.

I am all for strict rules and punishment, but it seems like lots of jails are just breeding ground for more crimes.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Yepp, just watch a show like "lockup", I have never seen any luxury in those jails.

I am all for strict rules and punishment, but it seems like lots of jails are just breeding ground for more crimes.

I read a news story a couple of months back about a journalist who got sent down for "fleeing the scene of an accident". What had happened to him is that he was knocked off his motorbike by an SUV (who didn't stop), but had the afterthought to report the accident. The journalist received the maximum sentence from the judge.

From what he said - it was basically race-war in the jail, with the prison authorities enabling the tensions by having all of the prisoners line up by race.