Saban offers plan to put more deputies on patrol

Democratic candidate for sheriff Dan Saban proposed a major shakeup of the office in order to reduce crime and response times to emergency calls in outlying regions of Maricopa County.

Saban says he'll dismantle human smuggling unit

The overhaul, he said Tuesday, would reassign 65 deputies to work beats in areas such as east Mesa, Fountain Hills, Cave Creek, Surprise and Avondale, where it can take deputies up to 16 minutes to respond to 911 calls.

Part of Saban's plan would include shutting down a special unit dedicated to investigating threats on the sheriff's life, as well as reassigning at least three sworn deputies who work in the sheriff's public relations department to law enforcement duties.

"The days of having all the resources downtown are dead to me," said Saban, who is challenging incumbent Republican Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

Saban also wants to reassign officers in general investigations and Arpaio's unit that enforces laws targeting illegal immigrants to outlying areas of the county, which Saban said are understaffed.

The goal, Saban said, is to reduce response times down to two to four minutes, as well as increase arrest rates that he claims have fallen to 2 percent. The arrest rates, he said, should be in the 20 to 30 percent range.

Although Saban would not guarantee his plan would achieve those goals, he said it would go a long way toward achieving them.

In effect, Saban said his plan would bolster the number of law enforcement officers on the streets at no additional cost to the taxpayer.

Earlier this year the sheriff's office came under fire because it was running a $3 million deficit that was partly due to the amount of money paid deputies for overtime. The sheriff's office has since stated it is now running in the black after making cuts.

Saban's plan was the second of three major initiatives he intends to unveil in his bid to unseat Arpaio in the Nov. 4 general election. The first, known as the Falcon Initiative, primarily focused on illegal immigration and tracking down people wanted on felony warrants. The proposal Saban unveiled Tuesday concentrates on reducing response times and improving services.

Saban indicated the third part of his plan will focus on reforming jail operations.

During the nearly hour-long news conference, Saban used a number of charts and graphs to illustrate his point that crime rates have been on the rise under Arpaio. Those statistics were punctuated by the personal stories of residents who live in unincorporated areas of the county and rely solely on the sheriff for police protection.

Jean Sipes, 43, who heads a block watch in an east Mesa county island, blasted Arpaio for what she called financial mismanagement that has stretched the department thin. In her neighborhood near Ellsworth and Broadway roads, there are numerous drug dealers that freely operate with no fear of reprisal, she said.

"He says he's the toughest sheriff in the country," Sipes said of Arpaio. "But, quite frankly, I'm not impressed."

Arpaio declined to comment about Saban's plan through his campaign officials who repeated prior statements that the sheriff will not respond to any statements made by Saban.

For Saban, this is his second shot at Arpaio. Four years ago, he tried unsuccessfully to oust Arpaio as a Republican, losing badly in the GOP primary.

Since then, Saban has switched political parties, thinking the crossover gives him a better chance to dethrone Arpaio, who has held his post since 1992 and maintains high approval ratings.

To pull off a victory, Saban faces long odds. For starters, Saban must overcome a major voter registration disadvantage in which there are more than 157,000 Republicans than Democrats in Maricopa County, according to the latest figures from the Maricopa County Recorder's Office.