I guess I'll start
So what does everyone think about Joe Arpaio?
I know he is pretty controversial, though I've never lived in Phoenix area at all.
Personally I think the whole bologna sandwiches, pink underwear, etc stuff is pretty funny. That is not really the problem I have with him.
It seems like he's lost Maricopa Cty over $40 million dollars in lawsuits first of all! Somehow I don't think he's made that up by keeping the inmates from stealing extra pairs of underwear.
They are some really scary lawsuits too- one $8 million dollar lawsuit he/Maricopa lost where an inmate died after he was stomped, kicked in the throat and head, had his head stood on, was tasered 14 times, and had a towel wrapped over his face or neck until he died of asphyxiation. This was all done by Sheriff officers (deputies?) at one of the Maricopa jails. Apparently evidence was destroyed (though the video tape of the incident was not), and also the Sheriffs office 'cleared' the officers involved.
Plus there seems to be a whole practice of intimidating people who don't agree with him, which I find really terrible if its coming from someone who's supposed to be so strong on upholding the law.
For instance the local weekly paper (New Times) published his address in a story about his real estate dealings (which is perfectly legal but he found some out of date loophole law to use). He then tried to get subpoenas for not only EVERY bit of info/research the paper had gathered or used, but also the IP addresses of every single individual who had accessed the story on their website.
Also, I think his cost cutting measures are fine, but I think he seems to take them too far. Besides all the complaints about food and general discomfort of living in the tents, there seem to be WAY too many complaints about lack of medical care. I'm all for saving money on criminals, but I think they probably are really neglecting the inmates in his jails, and some aren't even convicted yet.
Wow- that was long, sorry
Feel free to contradict me. I have read a bunch of articles on some things, and only a little bit on others so I could be off on some stuff.
edit- since my post isn't long enough lol- here is the Wikipedia page on him
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Arpaio
Also- I saw something that said since he started that 'anti illegal immigration' policy in maricopa county, over 2/3rds of all responses to serious 911 calls were either late or seriously late.