The numbers are in and somehow Joe Arpaio, our 80-year-old codger of a sheriff, has secured another four-year term as the county's top lawman. If that wasn't enough to get your blood boiling, the self-professed "America's toughest sheriff" is promising to run for Maricopa County Sheriff again in 2016. That's just blatant salt in the wound, spit in the eye, or whatever you want to call it.
In preparation for at least another four years of Arpaio rule, here's a look back at the most read stories by New Times staff on Arpaio's previous term in office.
25.) Arpaio's Gulags, As Experienced by a Limey; Plus the Media Chumps Out on the Latest Racist Tea Party
Dead rats in the evening slop. Cells so full of cockroaches that you sleep in a mass of them. No air-conditioning. Overcrowding. A lack of guards to watch the inmates. Violence and mayhem. White supremacists. And enough drugs to slake the appetites of Hermann Goering and Aleister Crowley, were they still alive. Read the full story by Stephen Lemons, published on August 26, 2010.
24.) Joe Arpaio's Deputy Told to Work Fraud Cases Instead of Child Rape Crime
According to a memo written by a Maricopa County sheriff's deputy assigned to a botched sex crime case now threatening to cost the county millions, fraud investigations took precedence over a 13 year-old girl's report of being raped by her uncle. Read the full story by Stephen Lemons, published on August 20, 2012.
23.) Should Sheriff Joe Arpaio Get a Pass When the Indictments Come Down? Hell, No
MCSO Deputy Chief Frank Munnell submits a 63-page memo detailing corruption and alleged criminal activity in Sheriff Joe Arpaio's office. Read the full story by Stephen Lemons published on September 23, 2010.
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's office didn't just commit racial profiling of Latinos, according to the findings of the U.S. Department of Justice's investigation. Rather, Arpaio oversaw the worst pattern of racial profiling by a law enforcement agency in U.S. history, a DOJ expert concluded. Read the full story by Ray Stern, published on December 15, 2011.
Investigators with the Arizona Attorney General's Office raided the home of one of Sheriff Joe Arpaio's favored commanders -- seizing computers, cell phones, bank records, and other documents.The AG was looking at the possibility that MCSO Captain Joel Fox and his cohorts committed felonies including fraud schemes and practices by willful concealment, making prohibited political contributions, and money laundering. Read the full story by Sarah Fenske, published on September 3, 2009.
With Governor Jan Brewer's signature affixed to Senate Bill 1070, Arizona directed all law enforcement agencies to adopt Sheriff Joe Arpaio's policy of rounding up and incarcerating Mexicans and then shipping them back across the border if they lack proper documentation of their status in America. Read the full story by Michael Lacey, published on May 6, 2010.
19.) "Tough" Sheriff Joe Arpaio Let a Murderer Go to Kill Again
If Joe Arpaio and the MCSO had done its job, two women would likely be alive today. Read the full story by Stephen Lemons, published on October 11, 2012.
18.) Sheriff Joe Arpaio and His Fiesta Bowl Freebie
Over the years, lawsuits resulting from Arpaio's malfeasance have cost Maricopa County close to $50 million. By the end of the near-octogenarian's tenure -- whenever that'll be -- the number will be much higher. Read the full story by Stephen Lemons, published on August 18, 2011.
Here, in Phoenix, Arizona, we enjoy little peace; indeed, we live in the chaos generated by a reign of terror that Obama has done little to address. Read the full story by Michael Lacey, published on December 10, 2009.
16.) Andy Thomas Needs a Perp Walk With His Papi, Sheriff Joe Arpaio
If anyone requires a dose of his own medieval medicine, it's disbarred, disgraced former County Attorney Andrew Peyton Thomas. Read the full story by Stephen Lemons, published on April 19, 2012.
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and former County Attorney Andrew Thomas were blasted in a court ruling on Monday, the day before Thomas found himself disbarred. Read the full story by Ray Stern, published on April 10, 2012.
14.) Sheriff Joe Arpaio and County Attorney Andrew Thomas Get Pilloried by Don Stapley
County Supervisor Don Stapley's arrest makes him keenly aware of the power of unchecked law enforcement, and prompts him to publicize Sheriff Joe Arpaio's abuses. Read the full story by Sarah Fenske, published on April 1, 2010.
13.) Secret Recording Reveals Strategy and "Fun" at Sheriff Joe Arpaio's Staff Meeting in '09
You're a fly on the wall in a fun-filled strategy meeting as Arpaio's command staff cracks wise and manages their political games. Read the full story by Ray Stern, published on March 25, 2011.
A bombshell memo from a top Maricopa County Sheriff's Office official alleges that Chief Deputy David Hendershott betrayed Sheriff Arpaio and ran a corrupt office through fear and intimidation. Read the full story by Ray Stern, published on September 16, 2010.
Juan Mendoza Farias was handcuffed and alone in a jail cell when guards opened the hatch on his cell door and fired more than a dozen paintball-like pepper balls at him. Then they fired Taser electrical stun guns -- more than a dozen times, by one guard's account -- into Farias. Next came "the Devastator," a fire extinguisher-like mace sprayer, then an electronic crowd-control "stun" shield and more Tasers.
Two hours later, during a separate altercation with 11 other guards, Farias stopped breathing and then died. Read the full story by John Dickerson, published on November 8, 2008.
10.) Victims Wonder Why Arpaio Let Sex-Abuse Cases Languish
Late 2005 to October 2007 was not a good time to be raped or molested in El Mirage.
During that time, the town had signed a contract to pay the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office $3.6 million for police services. But Sheriff Joe Arpaio didn't use the money to bolster his sex-crimes unit. Instead, the publicity-hungry sheriff's focus, as always, was on political witch hunts and pet projects that got his name in lights. Read the full story by Ray Stern, published on February 16, 2012.
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio apologized to the victims of hundreds of El Mirage sex-crimes cases that went uninvestigated due to incompetent police work under his watch. Read the full story by Ray Stern, published on December 5, 2011.
8.) Sheriff Joe Arpaio Admits He Busted Mexicans to "Spite" Critics in 2009 Recording
Bigots at the Texans For Immigration Reform fundraising rally in September of 2009 laughed as the Maricopa County sheriff described the illegitimate reason for targeting Hispanics in illegal-immigrant roundups. Read the full story by Ray Stern, published on April 23, 2012.
The battle for control of Maricopa County -- pitting Sheriff Joe Arpaio and County Attorney Andrew Thomas against the Board of Supervisors, judges, and county administrators -- has been costly to both taxpayers and the parties involved. Read the full story by Sarah Fenske, published on May 26, 2010.
6.) Joe Arpaio Turns a Blind Eye to Jailhouse Justice
Almost eight years ago, as an inmate at Durango, a man recounts what he calls simply "my worst moment" in Arpaio's jail system. Read the full story by Paul Rubin, published on January 14, 2012.
Sheriff Joe Arpaio and so-called Cold Case Posse lead investigator Mike Zullo added nothing to their running total of zero evidence that President Obama's birth certificate is fake, which they presented at a highly publicized press conference. Read the full story by Jason Lewis, published on July 17, 2012.
4.) Joe Arpaio Struggles in Racial-Profiling Trial to Answer Examples of Seemingly Bigoted Leadership
Sheriff Joe Arpaio is a self-promoting bigot of a politician who influences his deputies with discriminatory ideas that flow down from the top. Read the full story by Ray Stern, published on July 24, 2012.
3.) Remembering Marty Atencio, the Latest Fatality in Joe Arpaio's Jail
Marty Atencio died on December 20th, just days after he was brutalized and Tased repeatedly in MCSO custody. Read the full story by Stephen Lemons, published on January 5, 2012.
Deborah Braillard died an agonizing death in a diabetic coma in Arpaio's jail 2005 after not getting medical treatment related to her diabetes. The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors recently rejected the $3.25 million settlement for the Braillard family which resulted from a lengthy court case. Read the full story by Michael Lacey, published on December 9, 2010.
1.) Two of Sheriff Joe Arpaio's Top Deputies Have "Love Connection" to SCA Scandal
Two longtime Maricopa County Sheriff's Office lawmen, Larry Black and Joel Fox, get embroiled in an alleged love affair and become partners in campaign crime. Check out the full story by Ray Stern published on April 14, 2011.
