The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office will be training "dozens" of Canadian Royal Mounted Police on drug detection techniques this week in the county jail.
A few Mounties came to Phoenix earlier this year for the same thing, apparently funded by the Canadian government. Canada's legendary police force may be able to track crooks across the Rockies in a snowstorm, but they have trouble telling if someone's snookered. The sheriff's office says more than 200 Mounties have been trained at the county jail in the last two years.
The 4th Avenue jail's busy intake unit is a good place to find people high on all sorts of substances, so the Mounties have come to the right place. They'll also get to observe the federally approved 287(g) screening system, which allows jailers to identify illegal immigrants among other inmates. It's doubtful they'll see any fellow Canadians in the mix, though.
Sheriff Joe Arpaio touts in a news release tonight that no other jail in America is giving the Canadians the level of help for this program that Maricopa has offered. Must be because our county is swimming in money.
According to one of the Mounties:
"Since we've been engaged in this training program, we have seen a huge increase in the drug charge rate," says Sgt. Evan Graham of Ottawa, Ontario . "We are so appreciative of the Sheriff's Office for providing the opportunity."
