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Speaking to America's Toughest Sheriff Joseph Arpaio
By Keith W. Strandberg :


Sheriff Joseph M. Arpaio, Maricopa County Sheriff's Office (Phoenix, AZ), is one of the most colorful and controversial figures in law enforcement and corrections today. It seems like he is always in the news, and he thrives on making decisions that cause an uproar is some segments of society. Pink underwear, striped prison uniforms, tents in the desert, only all female chain gang in the world - the list goes on and on. Despite the controversy, the voters of Maricopa County keep electing him - he was just voted in for another four year term, his third.
He's doing some outrageous things, but he must be doing something right. Corrections Forum caught up with Sheriff Arpaio in his Arizona office.

CF: How does all the attention impact you?
"They recently had me on '60 Minutes,' and they blasted me. They always blast me on how I run the jail. It doesn't bother me. It means that I'm doing my job, and it raises my approval rating, which is currently 85%. "Not only do I go through the news media to get the message across, I go directly to the people. I have an open door policy, anyone who wants to go through the tents or the jails can go through them. The reason I do the publicity, I want every criminal to know, don't come to Maricopa County. Go somewhere else if you are going to commit a crime. I send my message to all the bad guys and the good guys. That's why I'm on national TV."

CF: What is the secret of your success?
"Number one, I am elected, not appointed. I can do what I feel is right without the bureaucracy, without having to report to anyone but the people. I have the freedom to make my own decisions, and I only answer to the voters. Evidently, the people believe in what I am doing."

CF: What's new in your facility?
"I put webcams in the jails, in the intake area, so that everyone arrested can wave to their wives and families. We got 10 million hits from all around the world. I did it to show that I have nothing to hide. I want to show that my officers are professional. It may act as a deterrent-people driving drunk may not want their bosses to see them getting arrested. I can't take kids on a tour of the jail, so I want the kids to tune in and see what the jails are really like. "Sure, there are privacy issues. O.J. Simpson was on the news all the time, and he wasn't even arrested. Television is always in the jail. I am planning to go one step further, and put audio in there, so you can hear the inmates. I am going to put webcams in the pod, so people can see what the inmates do, 24/7."

CF: Is overcrowding an issue at your facility?
"I am up to 7,500 inmates, and we only have room for 5,600. Funds are tight, so we are going to go down to two meals a day. We have a big overtime problem, because we are short 150 officers. Going to two meals a day will save money, on delivery, and $300,000 on the food product itself. Our meal cost is $.60/day for an inmate. Our dogs cost more to feed than the inmates. "The inmates will get brunch in the morning, and a meal at supper. A lot of inmates won't like that either, but I'm going to implement that in about two weeks. "I'm going to put more people in the tents, including pre-sentence people. The tents have been there a long time, and we are in an emergency situation. I'll probably have my armed volunteer posse patrolling the tents. I am inching closer to 2,000 inmates in the desert in the tents.

CF: You get a lot of heat for your decisions. What are some of the programs you offer in your facility?
"We have a drug prevention program, we have the only Sheriff's high school for juveniles who are charged with adult crimes, Hard Knocks High-a real high school in the jail. We have a new program called Parenting for Men, and Girl Scouts Behind Bars with the incarcerated mothers. I've only had one riot since I've been Sheriff. "I have taken everything away from them. They have to pay for everything-they have to pay $1 for food. They sued me for taking away their coffee, and I've won that. Amnesty International has been here, and I told them to go back to Iraq. I have had the ACLU looking at me, and they found nothing."

CF: Do you like the title of the "America's Toughest Sheriff?"
"I am the chief law enforcement officer here in Maricopa County, and we are a full fledged law enforcement agency. I get a lot of notoriety over the jail, but my total budget is about $130 million. I didn't give myself the name; the news media and the people gave me that name. My book is called that, and they are making a movie on my life. Over 800 news people have interviewed me. Today, British TV will be here, and last week two German TV stations were here doing a documentary. "I make it tough here, so criminals don't move here."

CF: How does your DEA background help you in law enforcement?
"I was a diplomatic officer overseas, and that helps with the political part of it. In law enforcement, I've done just about everything you can do. A criminal is a criminal, and most dope peddlers commit other crimes. Management wise, I think I learned a lot. I was always restricted, and I couldn't speak out like I can now. We have to take risks; we can't have business as usual. My pledge was to make a difference. I've taken a lot of risks, but what confuses everyone is that we've been successful."

CF: Do you think you are "tough" on the criminals/inmates?
"I'm tough, but I feel that I am fair. We don't run an inhumane jail system."

CF: How do the inmates respond to not having the "luxuries" that others might have?
"They don't like it, but they are in jail, and I run the jails. I will run it the way I see fit. I have almost 2000 inmates in tents in the desert. I have female and male chain gangs. I put all my inmates in black stripe uniforms. If they don't like it, that's tough. Don't come back. I don't just house inmates; I want to reduce crime by using the jail system as a tool to fight crime. I will not release anyone early because I don't have room. I will put up tents from here to Mexico to house the people."

CF: Why chain gangs?
"We never had them in Arizona. When the inmates in the tents violate my policies, I put them in lock down, and they lose all their privileges. The only way to work them back is to work on the chain gang. They volunteer and sign a statement that they are volunteering. I graduate them after 30 days of cleaning up debris on the streets of Phoenix. "I am an equal opportunity incarcerator, and I put 200 women in the tents. They immediately violated the policies, so why not give them the opportunity to work them back. What's so wrong? Why have two rules, when the women and the men do the same crimes?"

CF: How did you come up with the idea for Tents?
"When I ran for office in 1992, I had an idea, why not put tents up? I just wanted to put more people in jail. It's like the movie 'Field of Dreams,' if you put them up, people would come. I opened Tent City 1 in August of 1993. Then I opened Tent City 2 for 600 more."

CF: What about the Pink underwear?
"The inmates were stealing the underwear and socks, smuggling them out, so I decided to die them both pink. They hate pink, and it's easier to detect. After I went on national TV showing off the underwear, I decided to market the underwear. We sold a half a million dollars last year, and the money goes to the posse foundation, to help fight crime. "I just got re-elected. People think I am running for governor, but I see that as a demotion. I am the highest profile elected official, so they think everything I do is a political ploy. I've had some threats against me, from bad guys. I don't worry about it, though. I just do my thing."

Our thanks to Sheriff Arpaio for taking the time to speak to us here at Corrections Forum.