This is the kinda guy we need running things up her in Toronto...
Arizona's Maricopa County, where "the toughest sheriff in America" keeps getting re-elected with something like an 85% approval rating. EVERYTHING IS RELATIVE Joe Arpaio may or may not be America's toughest sheriff, but he's certainly the most colourful, innovative, gutsy and radical law enforcement officer anywhere. To save the state money, Arpaio has made a "tent city" prison were some 2,000 criminals are confined. When inmates complain, he says, "Jail isn't a country club, and if our soldiers in Iraq can live in tents, so can criminals in Maricopa County." He's revived the chain gang for inmates rather than have them lay about. He's even revived the old black-and-white horizontal stripes that you only see in comic books these days. The chain gang saves the state piles of money in road work and manual jobs. Arpaio also instigated the only chain gang for women prisoners, arguing "to exclude women would be discrimination, and we don't tolerate discrimination." During one heat wave, Arpaio answered prisoner complaints by saying, "Our soldiers in Iraq function in 120-degree heat in full battle order and don't complain -- nor should you." He allows prisoners to wear shorts, which are pink. Another innovation. A disproportionate number of inmates are Hispanic and machismo is a cultural realty. The sheriff has dyed prison boxer shorts pink (which are sold as souvenirs). Towels are pink, as are handcuffs and other articles of clothing, all of which collides with the machismo of inmates. Maricopa has an innovative program of awarding citizens $50 in food vouchers for every gun they turn in. This results in about 300 guns a year. STAY CLEAN Arpaio has introduced a rehabilitation program -- "Hard Knocks High," the only accredited high school in a U.S. prison. His ALPHA program steers inmates away from drugs, with an encouraging percentage who stay clean and don't return to jail. He's banned cigarettes, coffee ("no calories in coffee"), as well as porn magazines, most movies (only Disney is approved) and unrestricted TV. His tent city has the lowest cost ratio for food in America -- 22 cents per meal. Basic fare, with plenty of fruit at half the cost of his nearest prison competitor. "If you don't like these rules -- don't come back here," he says, which is mindful of the Canadian military prison in Edmonton, which is so tough that the recidivist rate is around 3%. Some want Sheriff Arpaio recalled -- a group led by criminal lawyers and social workers. But the public loves him, and votes him in every four years since 1992. Prior to being sheriff, Arpaio was a military policeman, then travelled the world as a drug enforcement officer, eventually running for election in Maricopa County. His mother died when he was born; his father dumped him on relatives and he grew up hard -- but straight. He doesn't call himself America's toughest sheriff, but neither does he shun the reputation. An investigation involving Northern Arizona University's criminology department questioned how Maricopa stacks up against similar sheriff offices. Pretty well, it turned out. While Maricopa is the wild west compared to Toronto, the FBI study found it had the third-lowest crime rate in comparable jurisdictions.
At last - someone who understands that effective (and yes, harsh) punishment is the best deterrent there is.
Arizona's Maricopa County, where "the toughest sheriff in America" keeps getting re-elected with something like an 85% approval rating. EVERYTHING IS RELATIVE Joe Arpaio may or may not be America's toughest sheriff, but he's certainly the most colourful, innovative, gutsy and radical law enforcement officer anywhere. To save the state money, Arpaio has made a "tent city" prison were some 2,000 criminals are confined. When inmates complain, he says, "Jail isn't a country club, and if our soldiers in Iraq can live in tents, so can criminals in Maricopa County." He's revived the chain gang for inmates rather than have them lay about. He's even revived the old black-and-white horizontal stripes that you only see in comic books these days. The chain gang saves the state piles of money in road work and manual jobs. Arpaio also instigated the only chain gang for women prisoners, arguing "to exclude women would be discrimination, and we don't tolerate discrimination." During one heat wave, Arpaio answered prisoner complaints by saying, "Our soldiers in Iraq function in 120-degree heat in full battle order and don't complain -- nor should you." He allows prisoners to wear shorts, which are pink. Another innovation. A disproportionate number of inmates are Hispanic and machismo is a cultural realty. The sheriff has dyed prison boxer shorts pink (which are sold as souvenirs). Towels are pink, as are handcuffs and other articles of clothing, all of which collides with the machismo of inmates. Maricopa has an innovative program of awarding citizens $50 in food vouchers for every gun they turn in. This results in about 300 guns a year. STAY CLEAN Arpaio has introduced a rehabilitation program -- "Hard Knocks High," the only accredited high school in a U.S. prison. His ALPHA program steers inmates away from drugs, with an encouraging percentage who stay clean and don't return to jail. He's banned cigarettes, coffee ("no calories in coffee"), as well as porn magazines, most movies (only Disney is approved) and unrestricted TV. His tent city has the lowest cost ratio for food in America -- 22 cents per meal. Basic fare, with plenty of fruit at half the cost of his nearest prison competitor. "If you don't like these rules -- don't come back here," he says, which is mindful of the Canadian military prison in Edmonton, which is so tough that the recidivist rate is around 3%. Some want Sheriff Arpaio recalled -- a group led by criminal lawyers and social workers. But the public loves him, and votes him in every four years since 1992. Prior to being sheriff, Arpaio was a military policeman, then travelled the world as a drug enforcement officer, eventually running for election in Maricopa County. His mother died when he was born; his father dumped him on relatives and he grew up hard -- but straight. He doesn't call himself America's toughest sheriff, but neither does he shun the reputation. An investigation involving Northern Arizona University's criminology department questioned how Maricopa stacks up against similar sheriff offices. Pretty well, it turned out. While Maricopa is the wild west compared to Toronto, the FBI study found it had the third-lowest crime rate in comparable jurisdictions.
At last - someone who understands that effective (and yes, harsh) punishment is the best deterrent there is.
