Mike Stauffer, Candidate for Maricopa County Sheriff, Finds Joe Arpaio's 2011 as "Exceptional" as We Do

Dear Mr. Arpaio,

 

In reading your press release dated June 21, 2011, regarding the "exceptional times" MCSO is experiencing, I noticed that you neglected to mention numerous and significant details:

 

To
begin, you failed to mention the approximately 500 sex crime cases that
your office failed to investigate. These cases included heinous crimes
against children. In typical fashion, you shifted the blame to two
detectives who no longer work for the MCSO. While defending the
reputations that you tried to destroy, these detectives stated that they
had been pulled, at your direction, from their primary duties as sex
crime investigators to pursue politically motivated investigations. I
note that these political cases have resulted in zero arrests and
numerous lawsuits against MCSO and yourself.

 

You
state that you are "proud" of the "investigation" that netted three of
your own employees involved in human and drug smuggling. You claim with
pride to have known about this criminal activity for at least one year.
What was your excuse for doing nothing for 12 months, leaving dangerous
criminals, with a badge and gun free to continue to abuse their
authority, until other agencies made the arrests for you?

 

Mr.
Arpaio, you take credit for bringing resolution to a high profile
burglary case. You neglected the fact that in your rush to the podium,
you placed officers from several agencies, including MCSO, in danger by
prematurely announcing the arrest. The officers were still in the
process of executing search warrants when you made the announcement. You
compromised the safety of the officers and the integrity of the case in
your continual quest for attention.

 

You
continuously inflate your agency's statistics with those of other
agencies in Maricopa County. Your habit of taking credit for other
agencies' arrests simply because they go through the Maricopa County
Jail system is ridiculous and needs to be brought to light. 

 

Mr.
Arpaio, you claim that over "550" arrests were made from your air
operation in the desert, yet no one has any idea how many real
convictions came from these arrests. You should know that the job is not
finished until the suspects are successfully prosecuted. This is a
statistic we never hear from you.

 

With
regard to The Phoenix New Times case you claim to have won, that is
still being appealed and the lawsuit is still moving forward against the
special prosecutor. This case is far from closed.

 

Mr.
Arpaio you have yet to release the un-redacted version of the PCSO
internal affairs investigation. Why? What damning evidence will the
voters be made aware of? There must be credible evidence against you and
members of your staff to continue fighting, with taxpayer money, the
full release of the report. I fully support an employee's right to
respond to investigations about them before the documentation is
released. However, professional law enforcement agencies conclude these
investigations swiftly. Your alleged investigation is now approaching
one year. You are expected to finish the investigation, have a hearing
and release the report in a timely manner.

 

Mr.
Arpaio, you state you have suddenly developed new relationships with
the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, which resulted in you
collecting $250 million more from the taxpayers for capital
improvements. Why have these "improvements" not been prioritized prior
to this?

 

You
further tout in your press release, at a level of arrogance which
defies reality, that $99.5 million of our money you knowingly misspent
was the result of "cross funding." It is evident that your new found
relationship with the MC Board of Supervisors is only the result of
pre-election year politics. Mr. Arpaio, just how do you "put to rest"
spending others' money in illegal ways?  The fact remains, you misspent
$100 million. This was not a computer glitch or a payroll error, it was,
at the very least, an unethical act by you.

 

Mr.
Arpaio, you have run the MCSO like a third world dictatorship for
nearly 20 years. You mock the notion of government transparency and
thumb your nose at the rule of law. You use the issue of illegal
immigration to distract the public from your own and subordinates'
corruption and malfeasance. The list of lawbreaking and corruption by
you is too long to list here. It is certainly clear, you hope the people
will forget your unethical behavior and continue to be fooled by
"excellent" press releases. You hope that reality show theatrics and
magically "putting to rest" millions of dollars you appropriated for
your own personal gain and gratification, will distract from your
incompetence. 

 

Mr.
Arpaio, the residents, and law enforcement professionals in this county
deserve far better. The morale of the men and women of the MCSO
organization can no longer sustain what you are putting them through.
Talk is very cheap and your last minute political stunts are too little,
too late. You will see that the majority of Maricopa County residents
have had enough and will not make a 6th mistake in the August, 2012
primary elections. 

 

Sincerely, 

Police Lt. Mike Stauffer

Candidate

Maricopa County Sheriff-2012