If you're interested in doing your part to put an end to Sheriff Joe Arpaio's tyrannical reign over Maricopa County, here is your chance.
Arpaio's opponent in next year's GOP primary for sheriff, Scottsdale Lieutenant Mike Stauffer, is holding a meeting tomorrow night for anyone who wants to lend their time to his campaign to de-throne America's self-proclaimed "toughest sheriff."
Stauffer has pledged to put an end to the "reality show" sheriff's office the MCSO has become during Arpaio's nearly 20-year reign as sheriff.
We've had the opportunity to meet Lieutenant Stauffer. He's good people.
(Get all the details about tomorrow night's meeting after the jump)
Last month, Stauffer spent an entire day answering the questions of New
Times readers in our inaugural online Town Hall. Check it out here.
Stauffer's pledged to bring some class back to the MCSO if he's
elected. In other words, the days of Elvis-themed panty parties and
inmate coloring contests at the county jails would come to an end under Stauffer.
Stauffer wants to put an end to the pompous, reality TV-based culture
that currently plagues the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office under
79-year-old Arpaio and get back to doing the job of a county sheriff's
office -- which doesn't include buddying up to Steven Seagal and Ted Nugent, and chasing illegal immigrants through the stock rooms of Burlington Coat Factories.
Rather,
Stauffer says, the focus of the MCSO -- when it comes to illegal
immigration -- should be stopping the criminal enterprises that smuggle
people, drugs, and weapons in and out of the United States, not on
"ineffective" immigration sweeps that often use pricey MCSO resources
but yield little more than the arrests of 10-or-so illegal immigrants.
"Immigration sweeps are totally ineffective," he told New Times earlier this year. "The
focus needs to be on the organized crime component [of illegal
immigration]: the human smuggling, the drug smuggling, the weapons
smuggling."
One of Stauffer's goals is to improve response times in rural,
unincorporated parts of the county -- ya know, what would be his actual jurisdiction -- which he says currently range from 3-4 four hours to never.
"Phoenix, Scottsdale, Mesa -- they all have their own police
departments," he says. "There's no reason for sheriff's deputies to be in those
areas unless we're part of a task force or we're helping them out."
If Stauffer were sheriff, the MCSO's role in cities that have their own
police departments will be to help them with any specialized teams or
equipment in the MCSO's arsenal, but not to interfere.
"[The sheriff's job] is to help the police departments in the incorporated areas while
still giving my primary focus to rural unincorporated areas...where my
real jurisdiction will be," he says.
Tomorrow night's meeting will be held in Scottsdale at 6:30 p.m. If you're interested in helping Stauffer dethrone Arpaio, contact his campaign manager, West Kenyon, at
