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I don't see what the big fuss is.

If you're a legal citizen, and you aren't breaking the law, then you won't have any problem.

If you're in the country illegally, and breaking any of our other laws, you will be apprehended, charged and sentenced.

If people don't want to get in trouble with law enforcement, they shouldn't break the law.

This is all basic stuff in a society based on rule of law, so I don't see why some continue to advocate for the non-existent rights of lawbreakers to continue breaking the law with impunity.

If they're allowed, even encouraged, to break the law, and excused for doing so, does that mean I can go out and break whatever laws I don't like, or don't agree with, and expect not to be punished?

Maybe I'm missing something here.

I was raised to respect and obey the laws of our country. Why are you encouraging and defending people who knowingly chose to break the law, and now object to suffering the legal consequences for their choices?

Sounds like you're promoting anarchy.

Wow.
These Un-AmeriKKKan acts by the greased haired Sheriff raises Red Flags and it is a cause for alarm. His continuation of violating and denying the constitutional rights for American citizens and LEGAL immigrants is a wanton act of injustice. Its sounds like he's gettin desperate and wants to make another name for himself by doing such unthinkable acts of terror as an outlaw man. Since he's has no chances of winning re-election this year. The sad part is, there's nothing we as citizens can do about it, let alone stopping him from terrorizing hard working legal immigrants trying to sustain the weak economy of Arizona, whose new laws were procreated by Russell Pearce R-Mesa a skinhead asskisser. Kudos to the Human Rights groups and Civil Rights groups who are monitoring the evil ways of Joe Arpaio.

Arpaio will continue to do the sweeps and Maricopa County will continue to pay out the civil suit settlements...

Unbelievable.

I live in the North corridor of Cave Creek and Bell Rd. I am a young Caucasian women, with no ties to the Hispanic community here in the U.S. or otherwise. I disclose this sole for those readers who believe my opinions may be based on my heritage.
Our neighborhood has never had problems with the day laborers who live amongst us. In fact tension and anger has only begun to break the service and it is all due to the extremist protesters who have taken up residence near the day labor site in our community. Our streets where safe, without racial tension, and peaceful until Sheriff Joe and his cohorts began to invade our community and stirred up a real hornet’s nest.
I am ashamed of Arizona. We are defining ourselves to the rest of the nation as racist redneck hypocritical jerks. I am republican. I pride myself for having core belief and an unfaltering respect for the U.S. constitution and yet we allow this maniac Arpio to break state and federal laws, abuse the constitution and waste millions of tax dollars every year. If you are so naïve to think his tent city is the greatest money saver AZ has ever seen think again. Arpiro has been sued so many times and lost so many times that the money he saved us before he became corrupt has long been spent ten times over. Arizona is an ugly place to live right now. Whether you agree with anti-illegal protesters or not, whether you’re tough on crime or not – the practices of Arpio and our tolerance of them – negates any legitimate complaints we may have.
Arpio makes me sick. Don’t get me wrong, when he first came to office I was in. I bought the pink boxers, I loved the idea of a big vacancy sign and I was proud to have a sheriff who was really one of us. But absolute power corrupts absolutely and out state is being held hostage by an out of control law breaker. He violates our constitution in the most extreme ways possible. Why can’t we see that?!?
For those of you who wonder, “Well, why aren’t doing anything?” The truth is that I don’t know what I can do. I, like many of you, work full time, I go to school full time and I have a family. I wish there was some ambitious U.S. Attorney willing to take him on.
The situation is out of control, HE is out of control. WE have to do something. This is no longer about the undocumented worker issue - its about Americans, we need to stand behind our claim that we love this country by supporting the constitution it was founded on. Agree with him or not, he is corrupt and out of control. We can fix this situation without him. Letting him be our representative and leader is crazier than he is.
My neihborhood is in shambles and is now being treated like a police state. Let it happen and it will be in your neihborhood next.

What "Citizen" and our sheriff and his supporters don't understand is being here without documentation is NOT a criminal offense. In case that was too fast for some of you, being here without documentation is NOT a criminal offense. Carrying that through logically, if it is not a "criminal" offense, then whoever violates that law cannot be classified as a "criminal" because it is NOT a criminal offense.

I guess if you had to tag someone, you could call them a "civilnals" since being here without documentation is a "civil" offense. People who are charged with civil offenses are brought before "civil" courts, not criminal courts. So those of us who didn't have their drivers' license with them are "civilnals," as would be someone charged with disturbing the peace or speeding.

Wouldn't it be nice if we had a Sheriff who understood such simple nuances? After all, you'd think he'd know this after being on the job for 15 years.

Joe's got to go.

Joe needs to go. He demonstrates a remarkable indifference to the Bill of Rights while embracing the far right.

i guess some of you havent been a victim of police brutality, harrassment, and arrested for bs...guess what people, i have and IM AS WHITE AS THEY COME..its not about brown or white, although most make it out to be, its about politics and joker playin on peoples hate of immigrants...i for one am disgusted as an American that people dont see this for what it is, but then again there are alot of stupid, uneducated people out there...this is going to happen right where i live, and ill be happy to walk around with a sign stating these facts:
this is racism at its worst, pure and plain..if it were about betterment of the community as he claims then he would be using these resources to round up the 40THOUSAND FELONY WARRANTS THAT ARE STILL OUT THERE INSTEAD OF HARRASSING ANYONE THATS BROWN. GREAT MESSAGE HES SENDING, "AS LONG AS THERES ILLEGALS GO AHEAD AND COMMIT A FELONY, WE WONT BE LOOKING FOR YOU FOR A WHILE"....oh, and one other THING, AUDIT, AUDIT, AUDIT, AUDIT

Criminal or civil, it is still ILLEGAL, and that makes them lawbreakers, which is exactly what I said.

In addition, many of them are committing crimes on top of violating immigration law, such as stealing identities, forging documents, passing forged documents, stealing benefits and services meant for citizens, not paying taxes, driving without licenses and insurance.

And that's not even counting the property and violent crimes, like burglary, robbery, kidnapping, drug dealing, home invasion, carrying weapons, rape, assault, murder... the list goes on and on.

The Sheriff is doing his job.

I think the rest of you should stop obstructing justice, stop contributing to the delinquency of foreigners, stop aiding and abetting illegal behaviour, stop interfering with law enforcement, and let them do the job they are paid and hired to do.

Remember, you anarchist, anti-authoritarian liberals do not speak for the majority of the citizenry, which is why Propositions 200 and 300 passed, as well as the employer sanctions law, so please step aside and let the will of the people as written into law be enforced.

Citizen: Do you ever drive over the speed limit? Do you ever make a wide turn? Is your tax information 100% accurate? If so good for you. If not are YOU an illegal?!

Remarkable that people can right off a person based on ONE transgression - the equivalent of a federal traffic ticket really. Even more remarkable that people permit the spill-over effect of civil rights violations of people who resemble those who appear to be from somewhere else based on "homeland security" arguements.

As for the "Sheriff", he's a tool. Taxpayers should be outraged!

Right on Bird! Right on SPLC!

Citizen, so you support speed cameras to catch all of those "lawbreakers" on our freeways and streets?

As for the litany of "crimes" YOU say undocumented immigrants are committing, where's the proof? Peer-reviewed studies of actual arrest data show they are 45% LESS likely to commit crimes. They are 1/5 LESS likely to be incarcerated (that means in jail) than native citizens. You can say it all you want, but it just ain't true. Where I grew up, we call that a lie.

This is one of several myths perpetrated by a sheriff who can't run on his record of reducing crime, managing a budget or even find people who want to work for him. What does it say about a politician where not one of their employee organizations supports their reelection? Arpaio's reputation is build on a house of cards and voters are waking up to his mismanagement and wasting of taxpayer money.

Joe has to go.

From what I read, illegal immigration is punishable by up to 2 and 1/2 years in prison and/or deportation... hardly the "equivalent of a federal parking ticket".

julia, I want to do something too.

Are any human rights groups planning a protest against this? I'm busy, but I'm in.

Perhaps Arpaio should ask himself what was the reason his parents came to this country! then maybe he and everyone who hates illegals would understand the flow...legal or illegal we're all in this cookie jar for the same reason.

"This country is like a big fuck*ng puzzy just waiting to get fuck*d!"
-tony montana

Citizen:

#1. I'm surprised you can read.

#2. I don't have time to describe the different classifications of offenses but immigrating to the US is neither a felony or misdemeanor, so what would you call it?

#3. Of all of the offenses, civil, criminal and otherwise, why you are so adamantly opposed to this one? Why is illegal immigration such a preoccupation for illiterate turds? What are you afraid of?

Here is the answer to #3, you have to feel like you are better than someone so you pick people who are the weakest politically and socially. You are a bully. But I bet you were picked on as a kid. Probably the proverbial 98 pound weakling.

Grow a pair and pick on people your own size - maybe Barney Fife has a long lost relative out there some where.

LONG LIVE THE BIRD!

citizen, all the crimes you listed are more likely to be comitted by legal citizens than mexicans so your argument doesn't hold water. Besides when was the last time you saw an american standing around with the hopes of work or cleaning hotel rooms or picking fruits, it doesn't happen. We would rather sit on our lazy @$$es and collect unemployment, that is truly a strain on our resources. My last point is where did your family immigrate from, I highly doubt that you're a native american so why don't you and your family go back to where you came from at one time you were no better than the mexicans you protest and despise.

One thing I disagree with is the fact that sometimes the hostility against illegals manifests as outright hatred for hispanics, which is just wrong.

I was just at the local Wendy's, and in the bathroom there was permanent marker graffitti saying "F*** Y** S***s", and other anti-hispanic hatred and vulgarity.

It truly bothers me that the hispanic employees of that restaurant will have to see that kind of hatred thrown in their faces every time they go into that restroom.

How did it get to this point?

My anti-illegal sentiments came from living in California and seeing and hearing about the hispanic gangs, and then reading over the past year or so how California is in serious financial trouble becauase of the mass numbers of people (including millions of illegals) who are getting free medical, food stamps, education... free everything, and bankrupting all the systems like CalCare, numerous hospitals, and now even the state budget.

People, including me, are afraid of the financial implications, the social chaos, and the crime that drug cartels, gangs, human smugglers and the mexican mafia bring.

The sad fact is, that all the immigration pressure is coming from all the way down in Central America, where ideological civil wars have driven the people north, into Mexico, where poor Mexicans join them, and the whole stream becomes a river and comes more north to America.

Then we've also got a rivers of legal and illegal immigrants moving into New York and other coastal cities, who then migrate out from there, putting pressure on all the other inland and smaller coastal cities, and a lot of people have become very resentful.

I don't know what the solution is, but the problem is, once you grant amnesty to a few million, like Reagan did in the 80's, then you get 5-10 times as many illegals in the next wave, which is exactly what we have now.

What's going to happen if we give amnesty to these 20 (and some say 30) million illegals... are we going to have 40 or 50 million next time (or more), moving here with the same needs and demands?

There are numerous spots to place blame, from the Federal Government not having an orderly, adequate immigration policy, to the corporations and businesses wanting and needing (cheap?) labor.

This is a very complex problem, and I am interested what the readers and writers on this site have to say on it, beyond the usual "illegals good/illegals bad" paradigm that we seem to have gotten stuck in.

Hank, I wasn't picked on, and I'm not a bully... I just enjoy arguing with liberals because they've been running the social agenda in this country for decades until just the past few years.

Lil' Mac, I don't despise Mexicans... I just hate anarchy, because I've seen it in various places (poorly managed companies, unrefereed sports, and dysfunctionial social organizations), and it usually winds up in some sort of chaos and destruction.

The fact is, most people with an opinion on this issue are bigoted towards their position and blind to the views and concerns of those on the other side. If we're ever going to find a real solution to this and the other problems in our country and world, then we're going to have to consider each others perspectives and refrain from condescendingly dismissing each others concerns.

You don't see what the problem is ?
Well, let me help you....

We have a Sheriff, Chief Deputy and their excutive staff that is as corrupt as the day is long.

They continually waste tax payers money with publicity stunds, trips to Hondurans and 44 million so far in civil suit settlements.

Not to mention the audit that's coming and what that turns up.

If you don't think that's any big deal, then maybe you need to get your head out of Arpaio's ass.

>>Citizen says:
I don't see what the big fuss is.

You all have to understand, Citizen is a Arpaio Troll.

He post about the only leg Arpaio has to stand on right now since he is being exposed as a fraud, a liar and just the ordinary Arizona corrupt politician that he is. God knows Arizona is full of them....

His stance on immigration is getting old, almost as old as he is and he's grasping at straws hoping the immigration issue will carry him through another election.

The best part is however, his constant puking of this issue is getting him nowhere since the voting public is seeing through all of his bullshit and how much he is a REAL LIABILITY to Arizona and all of humanity in general.

No more Arpaio in 2008 !

Someone else told me that there's something like 40,000 or 80,000 outstanding felony warrants that have never been served.

That's disturbing, and if true, and if that's part of Arpaio's job, then he's clearly not getting it done.

But still, should we (and the Sheriff) just acquiese to Arizona becoming the next Mexifornia?

Yes, I've had a monomaniacal obsession with illegal immigration for quite some time, but I'm starting to see what you folks have been saying about Arpaio's numerous shortcomings.

"That disturbing, and if that's part of Arpaio`s job, then he's clearly not getting it done."--Citizen

So you're just starting to get in touch with reality? What were you smoking before? Its better if you're not high so you can think clearly....

"but I'm starting to see what you folks are saying about Arpaio`s numerous shortcoming."

The difference between Sheriff Arpaio and the Phoenix PD, is that Phoenix 5-oh`s are arresting the REAL criminals in terms of gangbangers, coyotes, drug dealers, robbers, rapists, child molesters, et al, whereas Sheriff Joe on the other hand, is merely going after them poor LEGAL immigrants, people who look Mexican. journalist, and American citizens excercizing their Free Speech. Just earleir this week the Phoenix PD have arrested numerous gangbangers in West Phoenix/Buckeye whereas Joe and his Posse are arresting Migrant workers here on a guest worker program. And if you forgotten, that the "exodus" has been taken place since the new employer sanctions law went into effect which makes it harder for illegals to seek work. Many business have signed up with E-Verify. Who wants to risk their business license by hiring illegal aliens? Those that remained are mostly LEGAL migrant workers.

Lets not forget that Sheriff Joe`s has more deaths in his jails compared to L.A., Houston, NYC, and Chicago combined. More lawsuits directed at him than all four major police agencies combined.

Americans, no matter what you're racial background is, should always remember that this great nation of ours was founded by anarchists who fought against the oppression that demanded taxation without reprsentation and who knows what other things . Moreover, who knows what other situations they were put through while british found new ways to exploit this new land and its people. Even then american soldiers back in the day slaughtered the natives of this land when they told them they were there to help. im spanish and indian (AKA MEXICAN) and i appreciate how our founding fathers believed in freedom and rebelled against the power. its been said before, POWER CORRUPTS. it saddens me to see people like joe narrowing themselves and not looking at the big picture. as the years progress, so does greed, seperation, poverty, crime, "ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION", and all that other good stuff. i know i sound like a hippie but the only truth there will ever be in this world is love. no boundries for our brothers and sisters. we all share this plane of consciousness together. It'd be nice if "ADULTS" started looking at the big picture. i hope it happens soon becuz this hole we dug is just getting deeper. PEACE and GOD BLESS

As much as there is fervor to both sides of the immigration argument, I believe there is something crucial that is missing. It is the human component. Citizens or not, illegal or legal we are all human beings with aspirations for prosperity and stability. Who does not want to prosper in this life? What can ONE do when his famiiy is going hungry an there all resources for earning a living are gone? Hunger and need is what drives all immigrants regardless of their geographical origin.

You guys have some very valid points:

1) Calling out 200 posse members to round up 13 people (9 illegals and 4 citizens with warrants) is laughably inefficient.

The timing (4:00 pm - 8 or 9 pm on a (holiday?) Friday) seems orchestrated to gain maximum publicity, when most people are likely to be home.

2) Change on this issue, for either amnesty or deportation, has to come from the Federal leavel. This selective and scattershot prosecution is highly quesionable from a moral and legal standpoint.

Breaking up the families of people who haven't been proven to have done anything more than come to America (most to work) for the American dream is cruel and misguided, especially when there are tens of thousans of outstanding felony warrants that need to be served.

3) However, in one of your stories on inmate abuse, the former Madison Street Jail guard interviewed said that Joe is unaware of what goes on in the jail, and of how abusive and violent his guards are... that he doesn't know what's really going on there.

Hating and insulting a guy who appears to be just one more unaware, misguided, self-interested politican seems counterproductive.

You catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar. Appealing to his, and the citizenries, better nature, is probably the best way to draw attention to these shortcomings in his office and jails.

I never thought I'd agree with you guys, but I'm starting to see the light. Seeing that vicious anti-hispanic restroom graffitti and the pictures of those arrested illegal migrants opened my eyes... these are people with families and loved ones we're talking about... not just abstractions like "illegal aliens", and most of them are not violent felons, and besides illegally chasing the American dream, most of them have been proven to have done nothing more than simple nonsense like driving down the street with a burnt out tail light.

That's not the America I grew up in and was raised to love.

Here's a suggestion to Sheriff Joe:

Arrest Felons and Not the Poor.

Stopping violent crime and arresting wanted felons should be priority number one, not selective enforcement of hot button issues like illegal immigration. Compared to apprehending violent felons, arresting illegal immigrants is penny ante stuff, and hardly worthy of the time of the Toughest Sheriff in America.

You guys were right, and I was wrong.

:-)
All anyone can ask is that you take a good hard honest look at what Arpaio really is.
Do that and you'll vote for anyone BUT Arpaio in 2008.

>>Yes, I've had a monomaniacal obsession with illegal immigration for quite some time, but I'm starting to see what you folks have been saying about Arpaio's numerous shortcomings.

Julia and Mr. Kochise are right on! Keep up the great work Stephen Lemons and Phoenix New Times. You are speaking for those who have been silenced in fear of retaliation.

Many people (including me) were blinded by the rhetoric from the nativist groups.

This quote from Mr. Kochise bears repeating:

"The difference between Sheriff Arpaio and the Phoenix PD, is that Phoenix 5-oh`s are arresting the REAL criminals in terms of gangbangers, coyotes, drug dealers, robbers, rapists, child molesters, et al, whereas Sheriff Joe on the other hand, is merely going after them poor LEGAL immigrants, people who look Mexican. journalist, and American citizens excercizing their Free Speech. Just earleir this week the Phoenix PD have arrested numerous gangbangers in West Phoenix/Buckeye whereas Joe and his Posse are arresting Migrant workers..."

That's a great point... the most crucial thing is to get the really dangerous people off the streets.

Ok, I see it now... Joe has been targeting otherwise law abiding migrants in the country legally or illegally, while losing focus on the real, dangerous, violent criminals preying on the weak.

Preying on the weak is wrong, and not only is Sheriff Joe doing it, but he is also allowing violent criminals to do it as well.

That's totally unacceptable.

Sheriff Joe needs to start doing his real job, which is fighting real crime, not weakly obsessing on relatively minor civil violations.

Another good quote from Mr. Kochise:

"Lets not forget that Sheriff Joe`s has more deaths in his jails compared to L.A., Houston, NYC, and Chicago combined. More lawsuits directed at him than all four major police agencies combined."

That's another strike (or 10) against Joe.

I'm starting to think that Sheriff Joe might be delusional... he might even have a personality disorder.

"All anyone can ask is that you take a good hard honest look at what Arpaio really is.
Do that and you'll vote for anyone BUT Arpaio in 2008."

you're right Coz I'd even vote for the "Reno 911" crew if they were on the ballot in 2008.

I'll leave the pro/anti Sheriff comments alone. They seem to be deeply routed in local politics and I'm not local.

My concern is that there seems to be an over-riding theme here that sneaking across an international border is OK. I've travelled pretty extensively and I can't think of another country that allows undocumented folks to stay and work in their country. I'm also pretty sure that Mexico defends their southern border from undocumented crossings as well.

Personally I'm not a big fan of red light camera's, but I do support the need for traffic laws. I can also see the impending financial problems with a shrinking economy (i.e. tax base) and providing services for 20 million folks who should be cared for by their country of citizenship.

I fail to see why our country can't get arms arms around a "guest workers" program. They are a fact of life in all other western democracies. The vast majority of undocumented workers are here for financial gain (i.e. jobs that pay better). Mexico should pay for a portion of their citizens health care and we would be able to tax payroll earnings. Once we address legitimate Mexican citizens who are "guest workers" we would be in a far better position to identify those who are a danger to our communities.

LOL....to say the least.

>>I'm starting to think that Sheriff Joe might be delusional... he might even have a personality disorder.

CooperG wrote: "Peer-reviewed studies of actual arrest data show they [undocumented immigrants] are 45% LESS likely to commit crimes."

I tend to believe this, if only because I can always spot the illegals when I'm waiting for the city bus: they're the Latinos who hang back and always let the Anglos board first, as if they're afraid that if they offend anyone in any way they might be noticed and pulled in. (I hope I'm not giving the Gestapo any tips.) They're the ones who tend to mind their own business and avoid making waves. I do sometimes see them driving down the street with an overloaded truck, Jed Clampett style, but that seems to be more the result of ignorance regarding U.S. traffic laws than anything else. Obviously there are *some* illegals who are pursuing their "careers" as felons here (as, no doubt, in Mexico), but for the most part they seem to have been trained before crossing to lay low and be good citizens.

The MCSO have great timing for their predatory operations: Holy Week. They know that the majority of immigrants observe Holy Week and go to church on these days.

"#2. I don't have time to describe the different classifications of offenses but immigrating to the US is neither a felony or misdemeanor, so what would you call it?"

Bypassing immigration law is a serious offense and does not an immigrant make.

Immigrating to the US is a process where the applicant is approved based on certain criteria. You must have a sponsor, you must have employment lined up, and you must pass a physical health check up criteria. You must submit to a subversive group connectivity background check. You have to apply, and your application must be approved. You are granted one of many types of VISA’s depending on which kind you apply for.

If you are caught speeding, you get points against your license. If you are speeding 25 MPH over the speed limit, its criminal speeding and you go to jail and lose your license.

If you are drinking and criminal speeding, you go to jail for a long time, you lose your license and the fines are steep. You have to go to alcohol abuse training and do community service and must install a breathalyzer ignition lock in your vehicle if you ever get your license back at all. You lose the ability to obtain employment in any company that has no hire policies for criminals which is very likely. You may be under house arrest and wear a GPS locator bracelet.

Those by law, are the consequences of speeding.

What are the legal remedies for being in the country illegally?

Arrest and deportation.

That is the only remedy.

It doesn't matter how you look at being here illegally or if you think it is trivial.

The law still requires deportation.

But they are only here to work.

The law still requires deportation.

But they are really nice people; family oriented and make good neighbors.

The law still requires deportation.

But they were brought here when they were 3 and have lived here for 34 years.

The law still requires deportation.

But we need their labor.

The law still requires deportation.

But they didn't mean to kill that police officer or get drunk and drive or take an American Job away, or lower wages or overcrowd our schools or overwhelm our healthcare facilities and stealing Social Security numbers isn't really that bad, and getting benefits from the government isn't a crime and on and on.

The law still requires deportation.

Calling illegal criminal border crashing invaders who are here to join the culture of entitlement, an “immigrant” is stupidity incarnate.

Immigrants have an approved VISA, gate crashers get deported when they are caught.

Happy Easter everyone...

Interesting discussion.

Despite the way your Sheriff chooses to apply the law; Helldigger is correct. The writer of this artical (Feathered Bastard) is ignoring the two more obvious routes. The first is the Sheriff is an elected offical and you folks seem to have a far more moderate candidate according to my google search. Send him some bucks and go help the guy get elected. (I liked his web page)..You'll accomplish far more helping a candidate that calling the current Sheriff names in a blog that .0001% of the population reads.

The second issue is illegal immigration. That's a legislative process. Chasing a police officer around with a camera might feel good, but lobbying your legislators to change the laws OR strengthening them depending on your views, is a far better use of your time. As long as the laws are on the books, enforcement will take place. The fact is that once you cross an international boarder you have NO rights. Only a change in laws (i.e. guest worker laws) will solve this problem. Only a vote will solve the other problem

"If you are caught speeding, you get points against your license. If you are speeding 25 mph over the speed limit its criminal speeding and you go to jail and lose your license."

Irony.

According to the Az Republic on Feb. 8th, 2008. An off-duty Sheriffs deputy was cited for "reckless speeding" and drag racing on Grand Aves westbound.. He was clocked going 96mph above the actual 45mph zone, that surpasses the 20mph above the original speed limit which is a felony offense. In the end, he merely got a slap on the wrist, soley because he's an employee of the MSCO, talk about double-standards.....

"Those by law, are the consequence of speeding."

Funny.
So that doesn't apply to Sheriffs under Arpaio`s watch who are going 96mph off duty in a 45mph speed zone?
Sorry but the laws of this land should apply to everyone, Sheriff or "otherwise".

Quote/Unquote the Sheriff Joe on the local media press released made out to officer Loverjoy(whose K-9 named bandit was accidentally killed when left in an overheated car last year.)

"NOBODY IS ABOVE THE LAW."--Joe Arpaio

This should include the MSCO and its goons. Especially Joe Arpaio himself. As for the off duty deputy cited for reckless speeding should be in jail as you stated otherwise, but he only got a softball speeding ticket for putting other civilian motorists and pedestrains lives at risk. People should be outraged at the reprimanded they gave him was almost like a pat on the back.

The Deputies can't be very happy "goons", they just endorsed your Sheriff's opponent.

Heres Citizen to the rescue again...after he got his ass whooooopeddd over at the last comment posting (aliens protest).

Seriously, you just must be a TROLL, coz you are so stubborn amidst all the evidence contrary to your jingoist beliefs and worship of the fascist status quo here in AZ. You must like givin' handies to cops to get off speeding tickets too huh?

Oh yeah and "citizen" you seemed to be obsessed with the idea that people are 'promoting anarchy' (seems like a cop out and a scare word that you like to overuse)

If you had an iota of intelligence in your very empty skull- you'd take your palms off your ears and open your eyes and try READING and doing less TYPING.

Oh yeah, a phoenix cop almost killed a tempe citizen over the weekend. He beat the man outside a bar and continued to beat him after he was unconscious- while two cop buddies watched.

The one cop is on paid leave (what>?!!!) and the other two are doing administrative duties. Yet more reinforcement that cop on citizen crime doesn't really matter (to them).

I think the valley's heat (no pun intended) is getting to these porkers brains and cooking them. Dear god- police brutality is skyrocketing here.

Mr. Kochise is "right-on". Keep trying to educate the wing-nuts on this blog. The uninformed and the uneducated are the real threat to this state, which ranks at the bottom of the country in education. They keep the sociopaths in power. It's time for the elected officials to get mental testing before they can put their names on the ballot -- everyone else caught in the system is put through psych testing.

Thank you Mr. Lemons for informing the public about who all these people are. You are courageous to expose so many wing-nuts in the county and state. The taxpayers and citizens are paying dearly for all this in dollars and the loss of rights. Will vote AGAINST those in power right now. Keep up the great investigative work on informing the public about who is truly in control. What a "back-water" state!

Seems to me that the single point issue of "illegal immigration" and the bigots who are using this label to inflame and divide the community, are ignoring the real problems and issues in the state. Who's discussing the almost ONE BILLION dollar Prison system the taxpayers can't afford, as we throw more people into the jails and prisons? Why isn't there dialog on this? Who's going to be left to pay for all this since more and more taxpayers are finding themselves with their assets transferred to the legal system and the government? The bigotry is MAKING MONEY FOR THOSE IN POWER. Wake up folks!! You are being conned.

OVERSIGHT NEEDED ON CORRUPT OFFICIALS. The "Toughest (costliest) Sheriff in the Nation" needs to go the way of the "Sheriff of Wall Street" -- hypocracy and holier-than-thou" elected officials playing God need to be voted OUT. We will vote for Saban and professional law enforcement.

If I could vote in your county it wouldn't take two seconds to make my choice. Seems pretty obvious. If you folks feel so strong about your current Sheriff you should get off this blog and go work for Saban (yes, I'm sending him a donation). From what I read, he has an uphill battle.

Just an opinion here, I find that most police officers are pretty good folks. However most police departments work on a military model. Those folks don't have a big say in policy. I'm sure there are some bad apples, but remmber that most of these officers are 20 some years old. You guys describe that the Sheriff's office is a tough enviroment to work in. Their endorsement of Saban was a very gutsy move.

Have you tried to get in to the emergency room lately?

but Joe is a A+ jerkface.

It's true that illegal immigration is against the law. It's also true that the police (including the MCSO) have discretionary powers to decide which laws they will enforce and which they won't enforce. There are whole sections of Phoenix city ordinances, for example, that the police refuse to enforce. The non-enforcement of certain laws is usually justified in terms of limited resources, though not always convincingly.

From a law-enforcement standpoint, without any consideration of political factors, the question is whether MCSO is, first of all, the appropriate agency to be taking a leading role in illegal immigration sweeps; second, to what extent its allocation of resources is effective in dealing with the problem; and third, whether these resources could be used to combat more serious threats to public safety with greater effectiveness.

It should be obvious that the occasional high-profile (i.e., Easter weekend) deployment of 200 Sheriff's Posse members to detain 13 illegal immigrants out of the estimated 500,000 illegal immigrants in Arizona (according to the Pew Hispanic Center) will have no appreciable effect on illegal immigration or on the presence of illegal immigrants in Arizona. Certainly it has no appreciable direct effect, and any indirect effect (discouraging by word of mouth the presence or activity of illegals) is both temporary and highly localized.

Since Sheriff Arpaio, whatever else he may be, is not an idiot regarding the practical, law-enforcement effect of MCSO actions, it must be assumed that this waste of public resources represents more political grandstanding by a politician who has contempt for the intelligence of anti-immigration activists but who understands the importance of appearing to address a hot-button issue in an election year.

Assigning 200 posse members to stop random Hispanics for minor traffic violations as they drive by a particular local site is a highly inefficient allocation of law-enforcement resources, even from the perspective of those who view illegal immigration as a serious criminal problem (compared to, say, outstanding felony warrants).

By contrast, the Tucson Sector of the U.S. Border Patrol apprehended approximately 370,000 illegal immigrants (44 percent of the U.S. border arrest total) in the 12 month period preceding September, 2007, according to U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.

Obviously there are two, and only two methods of stopping illegal immigration that are worth consideration: (1) At the border; (2) At the employer.

The first method has been in use for decades and is provably ineffective: the border is a giant (2,000 mile) sieve, and neither expensive walls nor increased Border Patrol presence can do anything other than re-channel the flow of illegal immigrants to less secure sectors of the border and/or encourage increased use of tunnels to bypass physical barriers for the purpose of human smuggling. The costs to the taxpayer to effectively stop immigration at the border, even assuming that the political will existed, would be vast beyond the scope of anything acceptable to most voters.

The second method has recently been incorporated into new Arizona laws attempting to crack down on employers who "knowingly hire" illegal immigrants.

The very idea of a law incorporating a requirement to prove intent in hiring illegals demonstrates the complete lack of seriousness on the part of lawmakers. The only effective way to address the issue is to require employees (both new and pre-existing) to present documentation to their employers which can be cross-referenced against government databases to determine the genuineness of the government-issued forms of identification tendered by those employees, so that document theft and fraud could be detected easily and quickly, with immediate consequences to those offering false or stolen forms of identification. This would allow existing illegals to be weeded out and prevent new illegal hires. The culpability of employers (a political hot-potato which no savvy career politician wants to handle) could be bypassed altogether.

Such a proposal is opposed by businesses who have a vested interest in insuring the availability of cheap, exploitable labor (these same businesses have a strong lobbyist voice and contribute to the campaigns of influentual Arizona politicians); by a broader business coalition which objects to being asked to finance such checks; by politicians whose consituents include businesses dependent on illegal labor, and more broadly by politicians who understand the possible consequences of a sudden, effective enforcement of immigration laws on the state economy (imagine laying off 10 to 12 percent of the workforce, which is what illegal immigrants constitute according to both the Pew Hispanic Center and the Center for Immigration Studies); by conservatives who oppose the use of taxpayer funds to subsidize such checks (even though it's inexpensive compared to giant border walls, a ramped-up, militarized border patrol presence, and other ineffective but highly dramatic ideas); by libertarians who object to increased involvement of government in the civil sector generally and in the business sector specifically; by some Hispanic activist organizations (who also have lobbying and campaign financing leverage) and some Hispanic voters (ditto); and by others. In short, effective immigration enforcement is opposed by anyone of consequence and influence involved in the political process in the state of Arizona.

Therefore, anyone who expects anti-immigration laws functioning at the employer end (the ONLY genuine method of addressing the problem), to be designed by lawmakers (in the framing and/or funding of such laws) to be broadly effective and enforceable, is simply naive.

Note that the Arizona employer sanctions law, as it currently stands, does NOT require employers to conduct such checks; it simply provides the state with the power to hold employers who do not voluntarily conduct checks to be held criminally responsible IF they are found to "knowingly" hire illegals. Nor does it insure that the checks which businesses are encouraged to voluntarily conduct to avoid criminal culpability are, in their details, sufficient to address the problem.

Wow, very well thought out and written piece. One correction, I read on the MCSO website that posse members do not have police powers and cannot make traffic stops. It appears they provide non enforcement support..i.e. extra eyes on the street. The 13 arrests must have been made by deputies.

You are correct, George. From what I've seen, posse members are each teamed up with a deputy -- at least during this operation. I suspect having the posse there helps Joe hide the fact that he's using deputy OT during this b.s. too.

The more I read about the posse the more impressed I am. Thousands of folks giving their time to help run the MCSO! Pretty smart...I imagine there are all sorts of "non arresting" type stuff that these folks can do. Parades, directing traffic, communications...wow...that's a lot of free help.

I wonder if my county sheriff has thought of that? :)

I don't think I'd elect to put them in the middle of some of the stuff that happened last week. I'm sure the sheriff realizes what happens if one of those folks is killed during an arrest. I wonder if Dan Saban will keep the posse if he is elected? Hard to turn your back on that kind of help.

Some areas beset by drug-dealing and gang-activities have difficulty (for one reason or another) getting invididuals to come forward and act as witnesses on behalf of police and prosecutors. And it seems that the police don't have enough undercover detectives to saturate such areas on a regular and continuing basis.

I would imagine that volunteer individuals equipped with observation and communication gear, who do not live in the neighborhood and who therefore have less to fear from reprisals (as well as lacking local ties), might make excellent witnesses. They would of course require special training.

Some care would need to be taken to conceal them, not only for their personal safety but also to avoid prematurely scaring-off the offenders. I would imagine that seized property might even be available as observation posts, but if not rental property is surely available; and high-powered telescopic viewers (connected to video equipment) might offer additional flexibility in the selection of methods.

You've got to be kidding; this is truly another example of politically correctness being put to the forfront to blind the people to the real subject matter of this issue. The United States of America has always been the most open country in the world to immigrants from all over the globe. this issue is are you hear legally and only "Are You Here Legally" only. The people here not through the legal system set up to allow for immigration that benefits this country and the citizens who legally live here. All the complaining of these illegal immigrants about violations of their civil rights being perpetrated in this country by police and sheriffs officer inforcing the immigration laws voted in and legislated legally in this country by legal citizens of same is completely irrelivant since the civil rights the illegals are attempting to claim and have inforced are meant for and only for those citizens and immigrants here legally and particularly pointed out to receive them and have a legal right to them. If you enter this country illegally, you are first and formost immediately a criminal and the reason for your illegal entry into this country has no meaning to logic at all; y0ou are a criminal, you have violated the laws that I as a citizen am forced to adhere to so you are certainly not any better a person or citizen than I am and I have absolutely no patience with you or your current plight; leave my country and come back legally. Because you had children here while you were commiting a crime makes absolutely no difference to me; take your family back to where you came from and begin the process for entering the country your want to live in legally. It's time this subject was cut down to it's basic legal basis, if you are here illegally, get out and take your family, problems, property whatever with you and come back legally and I, for one will personally accept and appreciate your desires and needs but until you take care of your current criminal status you just plain belong in jail or paying fines for the crimes you have commited and there is no other discussion that we should be having on this matter. Because this do nothing government didn't punish or prosecute you has no affect on the matter; you are here illegally, take all you have and are, go home and come back when you can decide to not be a criminal in my country and a real drain on my society. Truth hurst doesn't it?

Willie is right. The focus of this discussion shouldn't be the Sheriff. He's doing what he's paid to do. The question is why are the other police departments failing to do their job? The Mayor should be joining the Sheriff in enforcing the laws not accusing the Sheriff of racism. The Sheriff is undoubtly using the issue to get re-elected, but he's using a legitimate issue. The protesters are defending criminals (I know, it's hard to think about nice people that way), but it's a fact. The question is: when are our legislators going to seriously deal with immigration? They are the only ones who can truly define solve this problem. I would love to see a few congressman (women) stand up and explain their positions.

Yes!! Mr Lemons. You do a nice work by shining a bright light on the specific areas of homesteading by the cheating immigrants. Hopefully the cheating immigrants will go home before Sheriff Joe has to bring down the big arm of our justice system upon them and expend additional local, state and federal resources on their sorry plight. Don't you wish they'd just have stayed home to begin with??