Sheriff Arpaio Orders Jail Lockdown Due to "Racial Tensions," He Tweets

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio has locked down the county's jails to unspecified "racial tension." Usually, Arpaio's tweets are more personal in nature, but this actual news. Since the Sheriff's Office doesn't bother to update its news releases in a timely fashion, Twitter's even better than his public relations staff...

By Ray Stern

June 29, 2009

Audio By Carbonatix

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Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio has locked down the county's jails to unspecified "racial tension."

Usually, Arpaio's tweets are more personal in nature, but this actual news. Since the Sheriff's Office doesn't bother to update its news releases in a timely fashion, Twitter's even better than his public relations staff.

And a whole lot cheaper.

Click here for update.

Ray Stern is the former news editor of Phoenix New Times. He worked as a newspaper reporter in Arizona for more than two decades. He's won numerous awards for his reporting, including the Arizona Press Club's Don Bolles Award for Investigative Journalism.

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