Yesterday, U.S. District Court Judge Neil Wake issued a ruling in the decades old case Hill v. Arpaio - a class action suit, on behalf of pre-trial detainees concerning issues of Jail Conditions under Sheriff Arpaio. You can read the entire decision here if you wish, but I have identified some fey findings and placed them at the bottom of this post. Overcrowding, Lack of proper medical treatment and inmate safety are just a few of the findings made by Judge Wake. What you see below has been lifted directly from the court's order verbatim. Remember, these are not allegations, these are now Matters of Fact proven in a court of law.

In particular, I would note that THE COUNTY HAS BEEN ORDERED TO PAY ATTORNEYS FEES to the Plaintiff's in this case. The local media has not picked up on that part of this decision, but yes, we the Taxpayers are once again picking up the tab for Arpaio's decision to not do his job. The cost is yet to be determined, as fees will need to be submitted to the court - but considering that the central attorney for the plaintiff, Debra Hill, has devoted countless hours on this case for over 7 years, the cost to tax payers will easily be in the six-figures, possibly reaching into seven-figures.

Tired of cleaning up Arpaio's messes with your hard earned tax dollars? Vote Dan Saban!!!

-APK


Ruling, In part:

P. Attorney Fees
478. Pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1988(b) for the award of attorney fees, Plaintiffs are the prevailing parties on Defendants' Renewed Motion to Terminate the Amended Judgment (doc. #906) and its predecessors.

Overcrowding
57. Overcrowding in the 4th Avenue Intake holding cells violates pretrial
detainees' constitutional rights.
58. Prospective relief is necessary to correct this current and ongoing violation
of pretrial detainees' constitutional rights.

Inmate Medical Attention
171. During screening, when pretrial detainees identify that they are on
medications, staff are trained to verify these medications, obtain orders, and initiate
administration of the medications in a timely fashion.
172. However, incoming pretrial detainees with chronic medical problems,
such as diabetes, hypertension, and HIV disease, often do not receive their medications in
a timely manner.

Inmate Safety
301. During intake, repeat offenders charged with serious violent crimes may
be placed in holding cells with individuals charged with DUI or criminal speeding.
302. There are no panic buttons or intercom systems in the intake holding cells.
303. Pretrial detainees placed in intake holding cells usually can communicate
with a detention officer only when the door is opened to move pretrial detainees in or out
of a holding cell.
304. Although security cameras record activity within intake holding cells,
detention officers do not continuously watch the security cameras.

Endorsements from The Arizona Conservative have been announced, and I'm pleased to see that Dan Saban is their choice for Sheriff. The more people I seem to talk to on a daily basis, the more I find that people are just tired of all the celebrity media stunts and Honduran scuba trips associated with Joe Arpaio. It's time to elect a new Sheriff. It's time to elect Dan Saban.

-APK

I talk often with friends, family, colleagues, really pretty much anyone that will listen to me about the amount of money that Joe Arpaio spends every year that just doesn't need to be spent. See, as a Conservative, I've always believed that good public servants avoid personal excess, or at least avoid riding the tax payer to finance it.

Anyway, in 1998 (two yeas after his election) Arpaio and his top executives moved out of the inexpensive Sheriff's office in the jail to take up shop in the Wells Fargo building. Today the Sheriff remains there, sitting in a in a wood paneled Penthouse on the 19th floor. This office costs us taxpayers $650,000 per year in rent and an additional $135,000 in maintenance fees per year. Facts. It originally cost $500,000 to install the electronics.

While the financial cost is significant - there is another point as well; the Sheriff is in charge of the jails and the law enforcement of the unincorporated areas in Maricopa County, shouldn't he be close to the jails and to his men and not next to the lawyers, bureaucrats and companies in the Well Fargo building? Why weren't the old jail offices fancy enough for Arpaio? Why is he making us foot the bill for his excess? When will Arpaio put the taxpayers first, and his ego second?

Thanks,

APK/JR

My fellow readers, there have been a number of horrible accusations and outright lies thrown at Dan Saban during the course of this campaign by Joe Arpaio. Apparently the Sheriff believes there's enough time to organize a smear campaign - but not enough time to debate issues critical to our safety. That's unfortunate. But you, and your friends and family should know, unlike some previous elections, this year we have more options then four more years of Joseph Arpaio.

I would like you to meet Dan Saban. See him for yourself. He was born in Arizona and although he was raised in a home with physical and mental abuse he overcame this hardship to be an honorable and honored law officer. Dan and his two brothers all entered the law enforcement field. Dan distinguished himself as a member of the Mesa Police Department. He literally put his life on the line and received numerous awards from the department for bravery and honorable law enforcement conduct. More importantly for our future Sheriff, while he was at Mesa, he also worked with other departments (including the MCSO) in order to form task forces to fight crime. He retired from the Mesa Police Department in 2004 after over 30 years in law enforcement to run for Sheriff with the goal of restoring the good leadership to the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office and to restructure it to increase efficiency. He recognizes that the Constitution of the United States is paramount in pursuing the police power of the State in a way consistent with liberty. Dan Saban's position.


Dan Saban has a plan to reduce crime, effectively control immigration, and increase the efficiency of the Sheriff's Office. The Plan.

Dan Saban is a man who is as honest as the day is long. You won't have to listen to a constant drone of public relations stunts out of his office. His idea of doing a good job is to stay out of the press and do his job. Please consider voting Dan Saban for Sheriff.

Thanks,

APK/JR

Joe Arpaio has said for years that "his jails" are "his business." He's said that he'll run them how he likes - without the interference of others, as he "answers to the people" - not the County Manager or Board of Supervisors. So what's his answer when faced with loosing accreditation for managing the jails into the ground? "I'm not trying to pass the buck but I have no management, no authority over the 'Correctional Health" in the jail.

No authority? Does Arpaio understand that 'Correctional Health' operates out of the Estrella and Lower Buckeye Jails? Does Arpaio know that A.R.S.36-402 clearly defines the role of Sheriff as being the responsible government office for 'Correctional Health?"

It seems to me that a few things are at issue:

1.) Correctional Health doesn't get a lot of press - it's one of those pesky requirements of being Sheriff that aren't glamorous, as such, Sheriff Arpaio doesn't really care.

2.) Arpaio spends most of his time in his Penthouse Office at the Wells Fargo building, book signings, and political events - so he's out of touch with jail management issues.

3.) Joe Arpaio doesn't care about human beings. Yes, that's a damming statement, but look at the record. Arpaio could step up and demand that people in his jails with diabetes get insulin on time; but he doesn't. Arpaio could demand that inmates with MRSA are separated from the general population; but he doesn't. Arpaio could demand this problem be fixed, but he doesn't - because he doesn't see inmates as human beings.

4.) Joe Arpaio is not a responsible person. When Rudy Giuliani was the Mayor of New York he placed a sign on his desk that everyone could see. The sign read two simple words; "I'm Responsible." That's leadership. That's taking charge and NOT Passing the buck. That's being a professional.

Arpaio needs to step up, take responsibility and fix this problem in HIS JAIL. Or, get out of the way and let a responsible professional (Dan Saban) do the job.

-APK

Today the Arizona Republic announced their endorsement of Dan Saban in the Sheriff's Race. Among the reasons listed, the Republic said in part; "Dan Saban has proved his worth as a cop on the job. Now, Maricopa County voters have the opportunity to elect a lawman, not a showman."

Here's the rest:

'Republic' supports Dan Saban for sheriff

Oct. 5, 2008 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic

Considering the built-in cruelty that so often is a part of politics, declaring any campaign the "worst ever" is dicey territory. There are lots of candidates for the title. That said, the effort to destroy - not simply beat, mind you, but utterly destroy - the Democratic candidate for Maricopa County sheriff this election will stand among the most demeaning political efforts we have witnessed.


For their salacious attacks on Dan Saban, Sheriff Joe Arpaio and the character assassins dwelling at Arizona Republican headquarters should be ashamed of themselves, if it were possible. The Arizona Republic firmly believes that, if elected, Dan Saban would make an effective and professional county sheriff.


Retaining the self-serving, Grand Guignol circus surrounding "America's Toughest Sheriff," on the other hand, would gain the county neither competence nor professionalism.

It would gain voters a continuation of the parade of pratfalling sycophants surrounding Sheriff Joe Arpaio, to say nothing of the tens of millions of dollars lost in lawsuits, and the completely unnecessary alienation of entire communities of Arizonans.


Let us repeat: The unnecessary alienation of thousands of perfectly legal Arizona citizens.

By retaining Arpaio, voters will likewise retain his retinue of double-dipping lieutenants whose sole justification for their bloated salaries appears to be their ability to dig up dirt on their boss' political foes. They'll get to keep the venal, petty "media spokesmen," who take exquisite delight in denying press releases to small newspapers that dare to displease them.


They'll get another four years of headline-grasping assaults on American liberty, such as Arpaio's infamous 2006 SWAT team invasion of the home of Maricopa County Schools Superintendent Sandra Dowling - an attack that ultimately netted a misdemeanor charge against Dowling for hiring her own daughter to a minimum-wage job. Oh, and a $1.75 million Dowling lawsuit against Arpaio and the county. Another lawsuit to throw on the pile.

In a perfect world, Arizona voters would come to see the costly trade-off of electing their law enforcers and would choose to hold their county board of supervisors accountable for selecting a true pro. Is the mystique of this perpetually angry and intolerant man really that important to the prosecution of crime? Other communities find and hire sheriffs and police chiefs whose primary duty is law enforcement, not self promotion.


Regardless, voters have before them an opportunity to "hire" a tough law enforcer who has no interest in rolling like a tank over his political opponents and other citizens. Voters can hire Dan Saban on Election Day.


The former police chief of Buckeye, Saban has more than three decades of law-enforcement experience in Arizona, most of it with the Mesa Police Department, which he departed as a commander, functionally in charge of hundreds of department personnel.

Saban last ran against Arpaio in 2004 - a Republican primary despoiled by many of the same rancid and twisted personal accusations recently resurrected by Arpaio's functionaries in the Republican Party. The strength of character it takes to march, yet again, through that gauntlet of personal vilification says volumes about Saban. He's standing up to the sheriff's toadies.


Despite his foibles, Joe Arpaio enjoys great popularity. He has money and notoriety. In many respects, he is bigger than life.


All that given, it takes a remarkable smallness of character to allow the county's Republican Party to attack Saban the way Arpaio let GOP Chairman Randy Pullen, et al, attack the sheriff's opponent last week. And make no mistake about it: Arpaio could have, and should have, condemned their slime and forced them to stop. He did not.


Dan Saban has proved his worth as a cop on the job. Now, Maricopa County voters have the opportunity to elect a lawman, not a showman. They should use it. The Republic strongly supports Dan Saban for Maricopa County Sheriff.

Channel 12 is breaking a story that pretty much puts the disgusting attack ad against Saban right at Joe Arpaio's doorstep. While the old Sheriff is too cowardly to stand up and face Saban man to man - it looks like he was willing to use his top deputy, David Hendershot to sling lies against Saban months ago. By the by, almost as insulting as the attack ad is the fact that Hendershot brings in over $250,000 a year as a COUNTY EMPLOYEE!!! And what does he do for that quarter of a million from your pocket? Clear out Joe's political opponents.

Also interesting from this story is that Dennis Wilinchek plays a central role. You might know Wilincheck as the private attorney that has racked up millions in your tax dollars handling cases that the County Attorney's Office should be able to farm out in house.

-APK

Well, things must be getting close for Arpaio on his internal numbers, because he has decided to unleash an ad that is ugly and false. All of the allegations used have been proven to be false - years ago. This is a disgusting ad - and Arpaio is a coward for running away from Saban.

While not surprising, it's sad for me to see that Dan Saban, a man that has devoted his life to law enforcement and protecing our community has to become yet another victim of Arpaio's ambition for power. Sandra Dowling, Patrick Haab, Sgt. Lovejoy, Lee Watkins, etc, etc, etc....anyone that stands in front of Arpaio is attacked.

Arpaio should stop being a coward and debate Saban face to face, man to man.

-APK

This week the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, at the request of Sheriff Arpaio will go back into session (open this time) to end the County contract that provides police services to Guadalupe. Sheriff Arpaio made the request based on a prior spat between himself and former Mayor Jimenez. As a result, this one mile barrio wedged between Ahwatukee, Phoenix and Tempe will be without police services in 180 days.

Some see this as just deserts. Guadalupe’s Mayor told Arpaio she didn’t want him conducting immigration sweeps, so he’s showing them by packing up and leaving – calling their bluff if you will. But here’s the thing….this decision by Arpaio has real consequences, with real winners and losers. The winners are criminals. The losers are residents and business in and around Guadalupe.


With no police or law-enforcement Guadalupe will be a playground for criminals. I can just imagine street gangs and hardened thugs salivating at the idea of being able to go about their business without interference from law enforcement. Now, I’m not suggesting that Guadalupe become an apocalyptic wasteland - but criminals are creatures of opportunity – when they see something that they perceive as weakness, they attack.

If Guadalupe is to be without law enforcement, is it not reasonable to believe that crime will increase? And if crime increases, is it not reasonable to believe that it might spill over into the neighboring areas? How about Arizona Mills – will consumers be wary of shopping so close to the lawless parcel of land but a few hundred yards away? How about residents in and along the Guadalupe Street bridge over the I-10, are they to expect a Phoenix Police barricade to deal with increasing crime blocks away?

Sheriff Arpaio’s actions in this case are truant of his responsibility as a law enforcement officer. The dispute with Guadalupe over the immigration sweeps is moot. The Sheriff is by law empowered to conduct his sweeps in Guadalupe whenever he likes, and Arpaio knows this. The termination of Guadalupe’s contact was political payback; nothing more, nothing less.

This November the residents of Maricopa County will have an opportunity to end the heavy handed Tammany Hall style politics displayed by Mr. Arpaio as for the first time in 16 years a well financed challenger; Chief Dan Saban will be facing off against him on the November ballot. I hope that Mr. Saban becomes our next Sheriff, the County re-negotiates this contract, and the little barrio of Guadalupe has police on the street – keeping all of us safe.

Thanks,

APK

Well, it still needs some finishing touches, but I am happy to report that there is now a Republicans For Saban website up and running.

Please check it out over at www.republicansforsaban.com

Thanks,

APK

The Keaton household always liked a good laugh - and this one's a knee slapper. Apparently Joe Arpaio tossed a poll up on his re-election site about a year ago. Well, apparently some people found out about it and decided they would go vote. As reported by Steve Lemons over at New Times, the results didn’t turn out very well for the Sheriff as 52% of respondents indicated that they would "Absolutely Not" vote for Arpaio this year.

If the results of this poll weren’t amusing enough, check this out. Apparently the Sheriff was so angry about the results - he wiped the poll clean. Yesterday over 2500 votes had been cast - today, the poll reported that 11 votes had been submitted.

So, presumably you are asking, what's the big deal? Internet polls are worthless. Well, your right, they are worthless. But aside from the humor of Arpaio being beat in his own poll there is something of substance here.

Joe Arpaio has routinely cited internet polling over the years. Most recently when he had a flap with Phil Gordon and publically touted approval ratings of 86%. On July 15th, 2008 Joe Arpaio went on KTAR and told Darrell Ankarlo, "A poll came out today. It said 86 percent support me." The poll he was referencing was Chanel 10 News' poll of the day; there were less then 200 respondents.

The larger issue here is that Joe Arpaio feels the need to lie to voters. Mr. Arpaio is so concerned with his public image he has forgotten why he was elected in the first place 16 years ago - to be fiscally responsible and protect the public. His focus should be on these issues - not rigging polls on his own re-election site.

Yet another reason to support Mr. Saban - no celebrity, no fake polls, just honest to goodness law enforcement.

-APK

In yet another example of Joe Arpaio defying the tenants of Republican Politics and Conservative Principle, he has decided not to sign the Goldwater Institute Open Government Pledge.

The Pledge says in part; I pledge to abide by the spirit and letter of Arizona’s Public Records Act and Open Meetings Law; and support legislation or initiatives that promote openness and transparency within government.

Why won't Joe Arpaio sign something as simple as this?

Why does Arpaio refuse to abide by laws such as the Public Records Act?

Why does Arpaio still call himself a Republican?

I am pleased to announce that 116 office seekers did sign the pledge; including Dan Saban.

It's time for Joe Arpaio to Sign the Pledge and respect the Law.

Rgds,

APK

Can you imagine anything more frightening then sitting in your house with your family watching television, when all the sudden, you hear a home intruder? You pick up the phone to call 911 and are told a Sheriff's deputy will be there as soon as he can. Only, it takes 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 20 minutes.... How much damage can happen in 20 minutes? How long does that actually feel like?

Unfortunately Joe Arpaio has made this dark scenario a reality for many residents of the outline areas in Maricopa County. Response times of 20 minutes to Emergency calls is standard as MCSO has only been able to respond to such protity one calls in under 5 minutes 33% of the time (figure from MCSO budget 2006).

Dan Saban has a plan that will focus on protecting people and increasing public safety, which is why this GOP'er is happy to be backing the next Sheriff of Maricopa County - Dan Saban.

Let's go Saban!

Back in June of this year Shaquille O'Neal decided to do some "freestyle" rapping and insult ex-teammate Kobe Bryant. Shaq's lyrics may have been brash and a little too filthy for this dear blog, but really the whole episode was much ado about nothing. The shelf life on the story was maybe 48 hours. That is, until Sheriff Arpaio decided to weigh in.

Upon hearing Shaq's rap, Arpaio declared, "I want his two badges back…because if anyone of my deputies did something like this, they're fired. I don’t condone this type of racial conduct." In about five minutes Arpaio was just where he wanted to be, splashed across the national media. Nightly news, print media, heck ESPN even put some time aside on Sportscenter. But here's the kicker. While O'Neal's rap was too offensive for MCSO "special deputy" status, it apparently isn't too offensive to be taken off the Sheriff's Re-Election Website celebrity wall of fame.

Earlier today I was checking in over at www.sheriffjoe.org only to wind up looking at pictures 27 and 28:

Picture 27: Arpaio with arm around O'Neal - Caption: "Shaquille O'Neal is a big fan of Sheriff Joe's and asked to become a special deputy which the Sheriff obliged. Here they are together at Tent City."

Picture 28: Arpaio and O'Neal shaking hands - Caption: "This is one of the Sheriff's favorite pictures."

So, one has to ask, if Shaq's lyrics were so racist and his conduct so deplorable, why is Arpaio still using the Big Cactus' image for the re-election campaign? Under Joe's logic, I guess this means the campaign condones "racial conduct?"

Look, If Arpaio was so insulted that he had to pull the badges, he should have ditched the pictures, but he didn’t. Why? Because, this is vintage Arpaio. He throws someone under the bus for quick, cheap, media glory. Patrick Haab, Sgt. Lovejoy, Shaq, and countless others all get the same treatment. Arpaio cares not about the people he hurts, the lives he destroys, or the damage he inflicts. It's all about the Sheriff, all the time. At this point, I just wonder, do you think Shaq knows about Arpaio using his image to run a political website that allows direct contributions?

Rgds,

APK