Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County AZ Does Not Run a Ritz Carlton Jail

The ANNOTICO Report

 

"Sheriff Joe", "The Toughest Sheriff in the US" is Tough, (and Innovative), But not Abusive!!!!!

Joe Arpaio, after his stints with the local police forces of Washington DC and Las Vegas, Arpaio became a Special Agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration, working with DEA for 32 years. During that time, he was stationed in both Turkey and Mexico, and advanced to the position of head of the DEA's Arizona branch, where he served for four years before retiring.

Arpaio successfully campaigned for the office of Maricopa County Sheriff in 1992. Since then, he has successfully won re-election in 1996, 2000, and 2004, the last time with 83% of the vote ! Thus, now serving 4 terms totaling 16 years.

 Maricopa County is located in the central part of Arizona. As of July 2006 its population was 3,768,123, which ranks fourth among the nation's counties and is greater than the population of 23 states. The county seat is Phoenix, which is Arizona's largest city and capital.

I not only discount everything he is criticized for, but applaud his Creativity and Common Sense. He does not treat jail as an alternate to a Spa. The prisoners work either in growing their own food, or clearing trash from highways, creating fire breaks. They get no Coffee, no Smoking, no Porn, no Weightlifting, wear pink underwear, often sleep in tents, on cots, (without pillows!!! OMG), receive only A&E, Animal Planet, Disney Channel, Weather Channel, CNN, and the local government access channel on Cable TV, and only G rated movies.

But Arpaio's critics always overlook the very innovative programs he has instituted:

Hard Knocks High   the only approved high school program in any American jail. A program for inmates to study while in jail and to try to recover from drug abuse.     

 ALPHA, is aimed solely at getting inmates away from drug abuse.

Mandatory two-week English classes for non-English-speaking inmates at his jails. Classes last 2 hours a day. The curriculum comprises the three branches of government, how a bill becomes law, state government, law enforcement and court services, and jailhouse "situational" terminology.

An in-house Radio Station, KJOE, which broadcasts classical music, opera, Frank Sinatra hits, obscenity-free patriotic music, and educational programming, from the basement of the county jail. The station airs four hours each day, five days a week. In March of 2007, the Maricopa County Jail hosted "Inmate Idol", a takeoff on the popular TV show.

A  greatly expanded "Posse" program through heavy recruiting. The volunteers perform many duties for the sheriff's office such as search and rescue, emergency communications, prisoner transport, traffic control, backup for sworn deputies, office administrative duties, motorist assistance, and security for shoppers,

"Deadbeat Parent" details target those with outstanding arrest warrants for failure to pay child support, and has also included on the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office website an online deck of cards featuring pictures of deadbeat parents, amounts owed and last known whereabouts.

MASH- (Maricopa Animal Safe Hospice), a no-kill animal shelter dedicated to caring for rescued animals that have been abused or neglected, and is now all staffed and operated by prisoners. They feed and care for the strays. He now has prisoners who are experts in animal nutrition and behavior. AND reduced the Cost from $18 Million to $3 Million a year.

..........among many others programs.

He is one of the few Republicans I might vote for, with the caveat, don't let the liberals run your penal system, and don't let the right wingers run your social programs. :)

 

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Sent to me by One of My Readers , and appears to be a compilation of various news stories, but has been validated by Snopes.


SHERIFF JOE IS AT IT AGAIN!

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

Maricopa County was spending approx. $18 m illion 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 nutriti on and be havior. They give great classes for anyone who'd like to adopt an animal. He has literally taken s tray 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 t! ake 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, whe re inmates can wo rk, 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 buy 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, h e 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 fo r 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, But 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." !

H! e Cut Off Coffee Since It Has Zero Nutritional Value.

When the inmates complained, h e 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 De mocrat, 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 the ir 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 year. "It's Inhumane."

Joe Arpaio, the tough-guy sheriff who created the tent city and long ago started making his priso ners 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!
< BR>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. !

 

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