Sheriff Joe (Phoenix, Tempe: job, hospital, house)

[tesswin]

How bad is the homeless situation in the Tempe & Phx area?

I deal with our homeless (southwest Florida) every day that I work. This county does not have a homeless ordinance like the surrounding counties have put into effect. Which means, of course, they have all migrated to the county I currently live in. They hang out on sidewalks drinking beer (of course we don't have an open container ordinance either), they hang their laundry up to dry on ropes between trees on the side of our main highway (US 41), they panhandle in the median and knock on car windows for money, and they harass shoppers at grocery stores. Most of our homeless are aggressive white males and they harass single women constantly. Ugh!

It will take me two pages to rant about the homeless - I have nothing good to say out the homeless in this area. While I am sure there are homeless families (innocently torn asunder by society - <sarcasm at its best, folks>) out there, I have not met them. In fact, I have not met anyone homeless who did not want to be homeless. Alas, I digress.

Soooo, how bad is the homeless situation there? What has Sheriff Joe done to correct that, if anything? Thanks!

[gregandvicky]

SHERIFF JOE IS AT IT AGAIN

Maricopa County was spending approx. $18 million dollars a year on
stray animals, like cats and dogs. Sheriff Joe offered to take the
department over, and the County Supervisors said okay. The animal
shelters are now all staffed and operated by prisoners. They feed and
care for the strays. Every animal in his care is taken out and walked
twice daily. He now has prisoners who are experts in animal nutrition
and behavior. They give great classes for anyone who'd like to adopt
an animal. He has literally taken stray dogs off the street, given
them to the care of prisoners, and had them place in dog shows. The
best part? His budget for the entire department is now under $3
million. Teresa and I adopted a Weimaraner from a Maricopa County
shelter two years ago. He was neutered, and current on all shots, in
great health, and even had a microchip inserted the day we got him.
Cost us $78.

The prisoners get the benefit of about $0.28 an hour for working, but
most would work for free, just to be out of their cells for the day.
Most of his budget is for utilities, building maintenance, etc. He
pays the prisoners out of the fees collected for adopted animals. I
have long wondered when the rest of the country would take a look at
the way he runs the jail system, and copy some of his ideas. He has a
huge farm, donated to the county years ago, where inmates can work,
and they grow most of their own fresh vegetables and food, doing all
the work and harvesting by hand. He has a pretty good sized hog farm,
which provides meat, and fertilizer. It fertilizes the Christmas tree
nursery, where prisoners work, and you can buy a living Christmas tree
for $6 - $8 for the Holidays, and plant it later. We have six trees
in our yard from the Prison.

Yup, he was reelected last year with 83% of the vote. Now he's in
trouble with the ACLU again.

[Artliquide]

Originally Posted by irwin

His tactics are not working. An intelligent person would begin to question the effectiveness of such tactics and consider that maybe one should take another tact. Instead, people in Phoenix cheer the guy on. Kill another guy Sheriff Joe!

Gives you a sense of the type of people who live in Phoenix.

If it weren't for tent city, we'd be building a new Maricopa County Jail every 6 months. Having the inmates eat bologna sandwiches and taking away TV and other recreation saves me, as a taxpayer, even more money. The crime rate has gone up because of the open border and the large influx of people coming to Arizona, not because of tent city.

Yes, he's a media junkie, and yes, he makes Arizona look like a bunch of cowboys, and yes, Arpaio is a very corrupt politician, but he's good at enforcing the law. I think that tent city is a great asset because while the feds are sitting in Washington doing absolutely nothing about the illegal immigration issue, Arpaio is at least one person who decided to stop waiting for someone else to do something about it.

...unlike Mohave County, which is too scared to lose businesses in their small towns to enforce the law with fines. Maybe Mohave County Minutemen should do some consulting with cities in Maricopa County: Arizona cities rebuff anti-illegal immigrant group - North County Times - State / West -

[Artliquide]

Originally Posted by tesswin

How bad is the homeless situation in the Tempe & Phx area?

You know, there are actually more homeless people who are genuinely down on their luck, or had bad things happen to them, than most people realize. Yes, there are some who just want freebies, but a lot of the homeless people I've met are homeless because:

1. They have a mental disorder, were released from the hospital with no chance of surviving on their own (I watched a man have an epileptic seizure after I fed him a burger once...he had just gotten done telling me that he has no money for meds and the only family he has is his mother who struggles to pay her own bills)

2. They have had a hard life (one man insisted that I take a radio he'd found when I offered to buy him food...after he said "no, but thank you" about 3 times...he then told me a bit about his story, which included divorce and losing his job...it happens)

3. They are born into poverty and just can't seem to get out of it (my dad taught at Thomas J. Pappas school for homeless kids over 2 summers, and I assisted him a bit...have you ever met a kid who was so excited to get a pair of used shoes that are worn out and too big for her because the ones she's had for a long time have holes in them? Or, a kid who never eats besides the two free meals they give her at school? These kids loooooove school. It's safe, and it's probably the only place where they and their families are not considered low-lifes because they're homeless...it's also the only constant thing in their lives, since if they're not lucky enough to get into a shelter, they have to move every few weeks after being kicked out of the park)

4. They're kids or adults who were abused or battered and would rather live on the street than keep living that life (I met a woman who made whatever little she could by writing poems for people on the street. She ran away from an abusive husband and is trying to get back on her feet, but it's hard to do when shelters only keep you for so long and companies won't hire people if they have no permanent address or decent clothes)

Try talking to some homeless people...talk to them as human beings and not as scum of the earth which needs to be scraped off our streets (because a street looking "nice" is so much more important than human compassion ). Some of them are junkies, and some are idiots who demand things from you, and some are genuinely down on their luck. I've met far more homeless people in the last category. It makes me ill when people look at other human beings as lower than them or irrelevant.

Sorry, got carried away. So, the homeless situation...there used to be a lot of runaway hippie teens in Tempe. They would jump the train and come to Tempe in the winter. Tempe decided that they're not fit to be on the street (even though their drum jams and general artsy stuff was a better climate, imho, than the now corporate Tempe). Downtown Phoenix has been working on getting rid of homeless people too, since they're turning downtown into yuppieville. Personally, as long as they're not stealing from me or trying to attack me, I don't see why they can't be there. Maybe the cities should build more shelters and create more rehabilitation programs, but then they'd probably say that would be inviting them to stay.

[HeatheReid]

Originally Posted by Greatday

The inmates in the Maricopa County jail are not inhumanly treated - do they get "luxury"? No - nor should they.

Of course they should have some. There are always innocent people in prison that have been wrongly convicted or couldn't afford decent legal help, so therefore prisoners always should receive some comforts.

Originally Posted by Greatday

BTW - more sheriffs around the country are starting to model their departments to Arpaios - chain gangs, pink underware and all.

That's the first I've heard of that, although it wouldn't surprise me that there are some corrupt rednecks in other God forsaken parts of the country that may adopt Arpaio's failed policies.

[Greatday]

Originally Posted by HeatheReid

Of course they should have some. There are always innocent people in prison that have been wrongly convicted or couldn't afford decent legal help, so therefore prisoners always should receive some comforts.That's the first I've heard of that, although it wouldn't surprise me that there are some corrupt rednecks in other God forsaken parts of the country that may adopt Arpaio's failed policies.

They get 3 meals a day. They get a bed. They get TV with C-Span.

And, Arpaio's policies are far from "failed" - they work. And, btw, and it is just me but, I do not consider Arizona as a "God forsaken part of the country" -

[Magnum Mike]

Originally Posted by Greatday

They get 3 meals a day. They get a bed. They get TV with C-Span.

And, Arpaio's policies are far from "failed" - they work. And, btw, and it is just me but, I do not consider Arizona as a "God forsaken part of the country" -

That says it all, thank you GreatDay.

To me, it sounds like those who only criticize Sheriff Arpaio either have no idea what they're talking about, or spent time in tent city.

[Artliquide]

Originally Posted by HeatheReid

Of course they should have some. There are always innocent people in prison that have been wrongly convicted or couldn't afford decent legal help, so therefore prisoners always should receive some comforts.That's the first I've heard of that, although it wouldn't surprise me that there are some corrupt rednecks in other God forsaken parts of the country that may adopt Arpaio's failed policies.

I'm all for keeping innocent people out of jail, but that's an issue with the judges we elect, not the county jail. Even if someone is innocent, as long as they behave, it's still a decent life, having basic necessities provided, and education/social services programs available. If any, there are few innocent people in jail (unless you're a conspiracy theorist, or you're that lady who told Arpaio in the Copwatch videos that she's an illegal immigrant and she has the right to be here because of human rights ...cause, you know, human rights allow anyone to do whatever they want ), most of the people in jail are not innocent. If a person breaks a law, they do not have the same rights that a free person does (can't vote, etc). Why should they have luxury then? No, basics need to be provided, which they are, but beyond that, they are being punished for a crime. If the person is innocent, they need to find a way to get the word out and get people on their side so that they can get out. Otherwise, jail mates need to take the hand they're dealt and stop whining.

[dynimagelv]

As a resident of the neighboring state of Nevada.....I have only one thing to say about "sheriff" Arpaio.......



PLEASE MOVE TO LAS VEGAS AND RUN FOR OFFICE

[ibarrio]

You can have him...he offsets any money saved with all the lawsuits he produces...it is a wash...people do not realize that.

He enforces the law very well...when it comes to anyone but him. The latest was the false assignation attempt that had the minute men and a Mexican drug running gang working together....


Link to Story on AZ Republic