I met Joe Arpaio at a Paradise Valley Chamber of Commerce Breakfast in 1983. He and I were two of six candidates running for the Phoenix City Council from the newly formed District 1. He stood at the podium with his hair greased back wearing horned rimmed black glasses spending the next 10 minutes bombastically touting his service for the Drug Enforcement Agency in Central America — how he had taken out drug dealers and all. It was gross. He finished fourth. Wrong guy, wrong office, wrong time.
For the next several years, Joe and his wife ran a travel agency in Scottsdale. He came to my office in 1992 asking me to be his campaign finance director in his quest to become Maricopa County Sheriff. Of course I declined. I knew then what I know now: Joe Arpaio is all about Joe Arpaio. Being sheriff was never about doing the job he was elected to do, but all about promoting himself as the “Toughest Sheriff in America.” That’s why, 20 years later, 40,000-plus felony warrants remain unserved. That’s why over $100 million dollars has been misspent. That’s why tens of millions of taxpayer dollars have been paid out in lawsuit settlements for various forms of abuse. That’s why several of his top aides have resigned in disgrace, and now the hammer may have finally fallen on big mouth himself. It looks like those 400-plus botched rape and sexual assault cases against women and children may be Joe’s final curtain call.
A few days ago, both Republican U.S. Sens. McCain and Kyl essentially stood aside thus encouraging the U.S. Department of Justice to look into investigating Arpaio regarding these botched cases. Nothing outrages people in this country more than women and children being sexually violated. Nothing is more unforgivable than those crimes going uninvestigated or poorly investigated. Last week, Arpaio begrudgingly apologized to the victims saying “if there were any victims.” If there were any victims? What an outrage! Folks, that statement by Arpaio tells you everything you ever wanted to know about this person.
Of the 432 reopened investigations, 428 have been completed, resulting in only 19 arrests. The sheriff’s office said 116 cases were deemed to have no basis in fact or stories that didn’t add up. A few years later, are we surprised? OK, maybe I’ll buy some of that, but let’s look closer. More than 220 of the cases had victims who didn’t want their cases pushed forward, were turned down by prosecutors, or weren’t submitted to prosecutors because they didn’t have enough evidence. It is not uncommon for sexually-abused women and children to choose to live in a familiar hell than to allow their “loved” ones to be brought to justice. Time will further deafen their silence. Sixty-nine cases had no information to warrant further investigation. Duh. Ya think that he may have lost a little data over the years? He may be tough on illegals, but he apparently chooses to overlook alleged sex crimes. Joe’s ineptitude has finally caught up with him. Hard to believe that it has taken nearly 20 years!
Resignation, however, is not enough. Arpaio epitomizes what many of us refer to as a “domestic terrorist.” Over the years he has not-so covertly abused the powers of his office to terrorize common citizens, judges, lawyers, elected officials — anyone for that matter who would stand in his way or criticize his performance. It is my belief that he is a criminal and deserves to go to jail.
It’s a sad commentary that the voters in Maricopa County have continued to be duped by Arpaio over and over again. For many years, I and many others have been telling you the truth about this tyrant and yet you reelect him to office. His litany of carnage both in human and financial terms is without question. It’s waaaaay past time for Joe to go. Remember, I told you so!
Slabside posted at 3:22 pm on Tue, Dec 13, 2011.
Aw yes, another hatchet job by the "mayor has been" Beydler. You are nothing but a bitter arm chair critic of anything conservative. Go back and smoke another bong.
Accuracy posted at 3:51 pm on Tue, Dec 13, 2011.
“Now's the time for Joe to go,” says Jon Beydler
Why?
1) Because if the U. S. Supreme Court lifts the injunction of Arizona's illegal immigration law (Senate Bill 1070), the law will go into effect in Maricopa County.
2) The voters of Maricopa County re-elected Sheriff Joe Arpaio in 1996, 2000, 2004, and 2008. And they will re-elect him again in 2012, for sure.
It’s waaaaay past time for Jon Beydler, the former mayor of Fountain Hills, to go.
Rich posted at 4:02 pm on Tue, Dec 13, 2011.
Catching a rapist or a murderer is time consuming and expensive. Convicting one is even more expensive. Fining people for misdemeanors, people who really aren't even trying to hide, is relatively easy and profitable. So most rapes and half the murders never get solved (you can look up the statistics if you care to). We have city codes with more words in them than War and Peace, and that's before you get to County regs, and the State. Enforcing the nit-picking nonsense is profitable, solving the major crimes is a loser. And, if all else fails, make a three ring circus out of 'enforcing' federal law by harassing Hispanics in a state where they are the largest minority. Arpaio and most of the rest of the elected and unprofessional lawmen in Arizona operate this way. They are 'tough' on average citizens, because they aren't hiding. Anybody who wants to hide, pretty much can. Arrest a dime bag junkie if it's easy, a rape is too hard to investigate, prove, use your people well. The fact is that as long as people like Arpaio, and others, impress enough people by harassing easy targets, rapists and murderers will be getting away with it. The shame isn't really Arpaio so much as it is the fact that so many of us are so easily conned.
Dale Whiting posted at 7:43 am on Wed, Dec 14, 2011.
Jon,
My experience on first meeting Joe, though not as momentous as yours, reinforces your impression of this publicity hound. Joe had just been elected and he and the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors were in court as defendants, recalcitrant defendants. It was Federal Court. Years before either he or most if not all of the Supervisors had personally been elected, an ACLU law suit on prison overcrowding had resulted in the entry of a consent decree which bound them as successor figures. Our county was not at all good at housing its numerous prisoners. We were housing more than twice the number of prisoners as the jails, mostly of federal design, were supposed to house. Joe was mad. Just who did this judge think he was to threaten Joe? His attorney had to take him outside of the court room to settle him down. It was embarrassing for the other defendants to be associated with such an unruly co-defendant.
The issue was, Will the Federal Judge hold Joe and the Supervisors in contempt of the consent decree which their predecessors had agreed to regarding building more jail space and several other issues related to the treatment of prisoners?
At that time I had another friend who was an employee of Joe's. He worked as a prison guard. His stories of prisoner mistreatment were horrifying. Prison guards knew that when prisoners were mistreated, prison guards were in jeopardy of retaliation. They did not like the new rules Joe had set down! The judge was threatening to jail Joe and the Supervisors. In an attempt to help them see reality, he ordered each to take a tour of the jails. I recall how shocked Betsy Bayless was upon seeing conditions at both the 1st Avenue and women’s jails. But Joe was not the least bit concerned. After all, bad guys are bad guys and do not deserve humane treatment!
A day or two later, I was with the friend who had succeeded the ACLU attorney. He was the one who had invited me along to court. We were in the office of Joe's attorney. Joe had his own attorney. But Joe was too important to be there personally, even though we were just across the street from Joe's own office. Not much was accomplished. But we did get a hint as to what the attorney was going to recommend Joe do. Since the consent decree only applied to pre-trial detainees, Joe was going to house only pretrial detainees in his jails. He would create more space elsewhere for those who have been sentenced.
Months later, and working under the advice and counsel of Joe's rather brilliant attorney, tent city was created. And naturally Joe took all of the credit for himself. However we all knew different. In effect, that Federal Court Judge made Sheriff Joe famous but Joe’s attorney deserved the credit.
Following shortly thereafter we got Joe’s pink underwear, chain gangs out doing publicity work which cost more money for guards that hiring the work done privately would have cost, baloney sandwiches and alike. Joe was in his element. Joe bragged that he had reduced the cost of housing prisoners from around $70 per day when he took office, to about $30 after his changes were put into effect. Whoever was Joe’s publicity agent was easily as brilliant as Karl Rove! But I hear that today the cost is back to $70 and Joe is in trouble for spending money outside of the budget.
And then there is the commissary. Rather than providing prisoners paper, pencil, envelopes and stamps, Joe opened up a commissary to sell those supplies as well as other materials including some candy bars and sodas. The cost per item was enormous. The covered up scandal was who pocketed the proceeds. There were no books to audit! And don’t forget that law suit brought against Joe over the death of a pretrial detainee? Is Joe an executioner? Settling that suit cost us all a bundle.
No, folks, Sheriff Joe needs to go. It's not at all about law enforcement. Rather as both Jon and Rich point out and as many deputies know all too well, it's all about Joe. Sure Joe is the toughest Sheriff in America. But tough is not synonymous with effective. He's one of the most ineffective men I have ever met. If you recall, three years later one of his subordinates ran for sheriff against him. Many subordinates wished Joe had lost. Its publicity that gets him reelected. And my friend is now a deputy sheriff in another county!
Leon Ceniceros posted at 10:40 am on Wed, Dec 14, 2011.
What is it with these "Vendetta's" that EVT Columnists have with our County Sheriffs.
Enough already. Maricopa County Sheriff Joe and Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu are doing a great job protecting Arizona from the Mexican illegal Alien Invasion and Drug Cartels. Something the Obama Administration has neglected to do.
Ok, I can see where some Columnists might be upset that Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio has been elected for what....the past 20 years with a margin of 65% (while certain Columnists were "recalled" from office after only "one" year in office by that very same amount = 65% said...."don't let the door hit you on the patootie on the way out".
The Left-Wing Liberal TV media smells "blood in the water" after the Mormon/Catholic/AZ Democrat Party and Hispanic Rights leaders orchestrated the recent "recall" of Speaker Russell Pearce. CNN News on the TV has made Sheriff Joe their new "target" after Wolf Blitzer day in, day out "vendetta" against Herman Cain was forced to resign.
Now the East Coast-West Coast Left-Wing Liberals Political Guru's and CNN are going after Newt Gingrich. The problem is that Newt's "transgressions" have been out in the public for years. The Republicans still love the guy. He can "shoot his mouth off every week...if not every day" and no one in the Tea Party or the Bible-Belt cares...."that's just Newt"....lol.
While Mitt "the US Army will just have to wait while I go to Paris for 3years on a mission for God's Army" Romney is receding faster that the Polar Ice Cap.....lol.
Rich posted at 12:39 pm on Wed, Dec 14, 2011.
Oh come on Leon, I'm not Liberal, Left-wing, Mormon, Catholic, or a Democrat, nor do I think 'Hispanics' have any more 'rights' than I do, but our elected, wholly unprofessional and publicity hungry 'tough sheriffs" are comic opera figures. They should do community theater Gilbert and Sullivan, rather than play Gilbert and Sullivan characters on the T.V. News. What I am is a realist. The actual stats on major crime reveal their total inadequacy for the jobs they hold. Over 400 rapes Leon? Over 400 little girls who will carry the scars forever? Not even a stab at preventing that? Why, because Arpaio would rather hassle Hispanics than do his job?
The border area is an economic unit, has been for about three centuries. It is actually larger than the economies of two of the four states that it is a part of. Part of the economic problems in two countries is due to the fact that too many of us fail to recognize that. And if you want to talk actual deportation Barak's your guy. It's been about sixty years since an administration deported as many people as Obama's.
As to the Presidency, there is Ron Paul and the rest. Nobody else is going to deal with a government that overspends in the trillions and is a bureaucracy so large that it is nearly impotent. Nobody you elect will deport more people than Obama. Nobody else you elect will do anything but overspend and pray the economy improves by itself. Nobody is going to stick gays back in the closet, institute mandatory prayers in public schools, and frankly, if you think someone can, you're deluded. So it's Ron Paul or business as usual.
samkat posted at 2:22 pm on Wed, Dec 14, 2011.
So we are harassing Hispanics because they are protecting the 400,000 illegals in this state? Lets do a mandatory identification check each time a law enforcement officer has an encounter, regardless of ethnic background and then it becomes acceptable, except to the Obama administration and our liberal illegal lovers.
For all of his perceived faults from people like Jon, Dale and Rich, I will take him over someone who will simply sit back and watch as the Spanish speakers continue to overrun us.
Slabside posted at 3:23 pm on Wed, Dec 14, 2011.
I'm with you samkat. Illegals can easily be any skin color or ethnicity. Check everyone that is stopped so the bleeding hearts have nothing to screech about.
Leon Ceniceros posted at 4:20 pm on Wed, Dec 14, 2011.
Well, our Liberal/Progressive "Gang of 3" still haven't grasped what the fact that "Illegal Aliens" are destroying Arizona. I don't know if it's because they want more "tithe" dollars or more envelopes in the Sunday Collection Basket or more Democrat votes for a President who has lost the approval of a majority of Americans or if they want to turn Arizona into "America's Drop House" for Illegal Aliens and Marijuana, Heroin, Methamphetamines and Opium ???
Folks, just look at who this Gang of 3 and their Democrat, Ethnic and Religious supporters have targeted;
Governor Jan Brewer for doing her duty to secure Arizona's Borders and following US Federal Controlled Substance Laws to protect Arizona's Public workers from arrest.
Senate President Russell Pearce was recalled for spending "too much time on passing laws to "protect" Arizona Citizens and tax revenues from an unchecked Mexican Illegal Invasion that Democrat President Barack Hussein Obama refuses to stop.
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio who is enforcing the Federal Illegal Alien laws that have been on the books since the 1920's.
Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu for going out day in and day out, into the Veckol Valley and other Pinal County areas to stem the transportation of millions and millions of dollars and thousands and thousands of pounds of Marijuana, Methamphetamin, Heroin and Opium. The Director of the Border Patrol has praised Sheriff Babeu for his efforts. The Director of the Drug Enforcement Administration has praised Sheriff Babeu. His peers, the other County Sheriffs all over the United States have selected Sheriff Babeu as the "2011 National Sheriff of the Year".
The lastest poll shows that Illegal Alien Invasion of Arizona is the ...#1 concern of Arizona's citizens.
Why can't the "Gang of 3"...the Democrats....the Churches realize that the Citizens of Arizona do not want 300,000 Mexican Citizens living in their State. They don't want 300,000 Mexicans taking jobs away from Arizona citizens. They don't want the children of 300,000 Mexicans to cost them, $7,670.00 per Mexican child per year to pay for going to Arizona Schools..........IT'S TIME TO PUT RIGHTS OF AMERICAN CITIZENS = FIRST.
Dale Whiting posted at 4:45 pm on Wed, Dec 14, 2011.
No Leon, it's people like you who are destroying America! Joe enforces law when doing so gets him appearances before cameras. That's been obvious for 20 years, now!
Dale Whiting posted at 4:54 pm on Wed, Dec 14, 2011.
Rich,
So you and I both like Ron Paul. He's not perfect, but he makes more sense than do all of the rest combined!
I hear we have another 15 debates before the primaries. As things look now, if either Gingrich or Romney holds on, Obama will be re-elected for sure, unless of course Ron Paul gains momentum in Iowa.
This could be the second time I vote Democratic because the offering from the Republicans is too hilarious!
Rich posted at 10:10 pm on Wed, Dec 14, 2011.
So Leon you're in favor of teenage girls getting raped? So long as the people elected to stop that continue to foster your delusions? Illegal Immigrants, at this point are an extremely dead horse. There are hardly any left, and it's been proven, over and over actually, that they pay more than they take. Well, one thing is probably true, Joe and Paul can count on the support of the rapists.
Arizona Willie posted at 9:50 am on Fri, Dec 16, 2011.
What we have been watching is MONEY going after a threat.
MONEY wants illegal labor to cut costs and increase it's profits.
Remember -- Sheriff Joe was the greatest Sheriff in the history of law enforcement according to all the media --- until he began enforcing the laws against illegal immigration.
Then suddenly he was a no good worthless S.O.B ... again according to the media which is owned by -- you guessed it -- MONEY.
Then Sheriff Joe's enforcement of the law began to spread to other states and MONEY became more worried about it's profits and the pressure against Sheriff Joe increased daily.
Sheriff Joe is the poster boy for enforcing the law so getting him out of office is symbolically important in MONEY'S quest to stop enforcement of laws against illegal immigrant labor.
The more states that have introduced laws similar to Arizona's the more pressure has been brought to bear on the people responsible for Arizona's law enforcement against illegals.
They got Russell Pearce and are now think they are about to get Joe.
They probably will.
MONEY always wins. ALWAYS.
I notice the Fed accusations about denial of rights in the jail mentioned all of 5 cases.
Only 5 instances out of over a million people who have passed through Joe's jail during his tenure?
Only 5?
You could find more cases of discrimination against hispanics in Mexico City's jail.
If it wasn't so sad it would be funny.
Only 5 cases where there was some kind of evidence other than a hispanic claiming discrimination with no basis other than he is trying to get out of whatever he was caught at.
Folks the great American dream is OVER.
The U.S.A. will soon be another 3d word nation with a few mega-rich families owning everything and your children will be peons as in the Middle Ages.
GREED wins again.
Companies like Hersheys chocolate that was very very profitable, shut down the town named after them and moved to China for slave labor in order to get even MORE profit.
I no longer buy anything with the name HERSHEY on it. I would rather buy Godiva a company that never deliberately harmed it's own workers.
The same for Whirlpool, Levi, and many other companies.
GREED has won. Our middle class is on the way out. Just yesterday, I believe it was, the Arizona Republic reported 1 out of 2 people in the U.S. are officially poor.
What happened to our country?
Ronald Reagan and GREED.
Ronald started the ball rolling and since then the country has gone downhill for working people and the wealthy have gotten wealthier.
It is my belief that the government organized the Occupy movement in order to relieve pressure by getting the unhappy people blow off steam.
I probably won't be here that much longer ... being a geezer who lives in Heavens Waiting Room ( Mesa ) but many of you who read this will.
And many of you, especially right wingers, will scoff.
Print this out and look at it when you get laid off and an illegal takes your place.
You think it won't happen? No one can do your job?
You are stoopid if you believe that.
Mexicans are not stupid. They have the same occupations we have here and many of them are quite willing to come take your job for 1/3 your pay with no benefits.
When MONEY wins and they get Sheriff Joe thrown out of office and other Sheriffs quit trying to enforce the law out of fear for their jobs, and when the Supreme Court rules against the efforts to stop illegal aliens ( and they will -- it is dominated by Republicans who are wholly owned by MONEY ), the border will be wide open and there will be NO enforcement of ANY laws against who can work here and your jobs will go the way of the construction people who have seen their jobs taken by illegals.
It WILL happen. MONEY says so. And MONEY always wins --- ALWAYS.
Rich posted at 6:24 pm on Fri, Dec 16, 2011.
"It WILL happen. MONEY says so. And MONEY always wins --- ALWAYS."
The big lie. It never has won, and your quote is very close to a Latin tag attributed to Tiberus Graachus. I've known rich people and poor people. Never known a single happy rich person. Not even one. Wanting too much money is the most destructive human desire, and the fear of losing it dwarfs the fear of death. The sad fact is that they never win.
Your life tips between extremes. You can live a life of quiet desperation in the words of Thoreau: "Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them." or you can sing your song. You can do that if you are rich or poor. If you have a job, or if you don't. The singer wins, he is the only one who ever does. Enough of us do, like the tide in the oft quoted economic analogy, we lift all boats. Enough of us fail to do that, and the reverse happens. Tides go in and out. Looking to someone to "enforce the law," "create jobs", crying because someone has more money, trying to get more money without earning it, begging a 'government' to give you more, these are desperate actions, and a sign that you are living a life of quiet desperation. There is only you, and it is your actions that make you happy or sad, desperate or fulfilled. If the later, and you count on society. law, a government to save you, they can't.
MONEY loses. The only infallible measure of falsity is to be sure. The only way in which you can be happy is to fulfill yourself. If you do, what society does, what the law says, and what the government does, is irrelevant background noise, and you will find, that you don't really care. I feel sorry for you Willy. You've painted yourself into a corner and no matter who does what, they can't get you out.
bobunf posted at 2:25 am on Sun, Dec 18, 2011.
It is not a surprise to anyone who has been awake in Maricopa County over the last decade that Sheriff Arpaio is a vindictive racist who has imbued his jails and police operations with a culture of unconstitutional discrimination and cruelty. Denying racial profiling and other biases is pretending that one knows less about something than one really does. Like Sargent Schultz.
What is surprising is the Justice Department description: "The most egregious racial profiling in the United States that he had ever personally observed in the course of his work, observed in litigation, or reviewed in professional literature."
ezsun posted at 7:00 pm on Mon, Dec 19, 2011.
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU MR B. YOU ARE A GENTLEMAN
OF GREAT SUBSTANCE!!!!!!
Masterrogue666 posted at 1:04 am on Mon, Dec 26, 2011.
"That’s why, 20 years later, 40,000-plus felony warrants remain unserved." -- FACT: MCSO is responsible for RECORDING the warrants, NOT FOR CLEARING THEM!!! ALL Law enforcement agencies are responsible for clearing them, yet MCSO seems to be the ONLY AGENCY to draw complaints about it. Reason: Sheriff Joe enforces the law in regards to ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION.
It's obvious your attempt is to blast Sheriff Joe. What's said is that you call Sheriff Joe a terrorist, yet what about a President that REFUSES to enforce Federal Law? What about a President that IGNORES what the MAJORITY of US CITIZENS want (enforcement of Immigration laws). Why so silent about that?
Rational Human posted at 4:43 pm on Wed, Feb 8, 2012.
Doesn't really matter what this liberal fool says cause Joe will be back and you can all eat his dust if you don't like it.
downtownresident posted at 2:09 pm on Wed, Jul 4, 2012.
joe is an arrogant, senile old bigot. He should have been arrested years ago for his crimes and conflicts of interest. So should have the whale, his partner in crime.
If he cared about Maricopa County's citizens he would not have piddled away millions of dollars forcing and filing lawsuits. joe'll get his reward, and it won't be in Heaven.