NEW REPORT: Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s Notorious Record

America's Voice Blog

Posted 07/16/10 at 04:28pm

The “Model Sheriff” for Arizona’s SB 1070, Joe Arpaio, has a record of failed crime fighting tactics, civil rights abuses and creating terror in the communities he’s supposed to protect.

Today, we here at America’s Voice Education Fund released a new report detailing the long, disturbing and ineffective record of Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, AZ.

The report reveals some 21 examples of Arpaio’s disturbing record, among them:

Violent crime rates are up in Arpaio’s jurisdiction while they have fallen throughout the rest of Arizona.
Arpaio has failed to serve over 40,000 felony warrants. Arpaio is suspected of misspending $50 million in taxpayer funds and has refused to turn over records for an investigation.
Over 2,700 lawsuits have been filed against Arpaio and he’s been investigated by the FBI and the U.S. Departments of Justice and Labor.
Evidence exists that Arpaio forced an undocumented mother to give birth while handcuffed to a bed.

Despite Arpaio’s failures, Governor Brewer endorsed it as statewide policy by signing controversial new state law SB 1070. If the federal government’s attempt to enjoin SB 1070 fails and the law goes into effect on July 29th, every police officer in the state will be forced to repeat Arpaio’s failures.

In contrast to Arpaio’s tactics, which have created deep distrust between the Latino community and law enforcement, the Police Executive Research Forum and scores of law enforcement leaders across the nation have spoken out about the need for strong relationships between police and immigrant communities, and the responsibility of the federal government to pass comprehensive immigration reform that turns undocumented workers into legal citizens.

History is filled with elected officials, like Sheriff Joe (Bull Conner comes to mind) who try to scare up votes – and publicity – by running roughshod over the Constitution. Arpaio loves the spotlight (he even used taxpayer money to pay for a reality show) and he uses it to overshadow their failure at accomplishing their mission.

This report reveals an unimpeachable truth: Sheriff Joe Arpaio is a failed lawman and Governor Jan Brewer has made a terrible error in judgment by forcing his tactics onto every police department in her state.