What you may not learn from watching Fox's reality show with Sheriff Joe Arpaio
By David Neiwert Thursday Dec 18, 2008 6:45amSheriff Joe Arpaio has a new reality show on Fox scheduled to debut: "Smile! You're Under Arrest". The grand concept is "'Cops' meets 'Punk'd'." Here are some details:
From creator Scott Satin (Who Wants to Marry My Dad?, Who Wants to be a Superhero?), the show features law officers in Phoenix setting up grandiose sting operations to lure criminals with warrants into their waiting hands, and cameras.
“It is a reverse Punk’d,” says Fox President of Alternative Entertainment Mike Darnell. “Instead of the worst day of your life and then a joke at the end, this is the reverse. This is the best day of your life, and then we arrest you.”
One of three set-ups just shot in Arizona features the cops luring a criminal to a movie set with the promise of making him an extra and paying him a couple hundred dollars. An elaborate film set is staged and filming begins on a faux movie. The set-up continues as the director then gets mad at the lead actor, fires him and replaces him with the law-breaking extra.
The scene escalates with the fake director introducing the mark to a supposed studio mogul and continuing to create this dream-comes-true sequence. Finally, all the participants are revealed as officers of the law, and the criminal is apprehended (before signing waivers to let the footage be used in the show).
Yes, the Sheriff Joe featured in this show is the same Maricopa County sheriff who's made a career out of arresting just about every Latino in sight, while driving law enforcement in the county right into the ground, with hundreds of crimes going uninvestigated -- all while nakedly violating federal regulations.
Moreover, he's also incurred the wrath of the ACLU by attempting to terminate a federal consent decree mandating that he maintain conditions at the county jail that meet constitutional minimums; he also was taken to court in an attempt to force him to live up to a court order to transport female prisoners to abortion appointments.
America's Voice (which made the above video) notes:
- 2,700 lawsuits have been filed against Arpaio
- Joe prioritizes immigrant sweeps over prosecuting felons (there are 40,000 outstanding warrants in his county)
- The Sheriff discriminates against Latinos, as found in an Arizona Republic study
- Joe even staged a phony murder plot against himself!
The Immigration Policy Center [pdf file] has a fact sheet with even more info on Sheriff Joe. It notes that he "has transformed his police department into an immigration-enforcement agency."
This was explored in detail in a report from the Goldwater Institute -- not exactly a hotbed of liberalism -- which found that Arpaio's tenure has been a disaster for Maricopa County:
MCSO falls seriously short of fulfilling its mission in all three areas. Although MCSO is adept at self-promotion and is an unquestionably “tough” law-enforcement agency, under its watch violent crime rates recently have soared, both in absolute terms and relative to other jurisdictions. It has diverted resources away from basic law-enforcement functions to highly publicized immigration sweeps, which are ineffective in policing illegal immigration and in
reducing crime generally, and to extensive trips by MCSO officials to Honduras for purposes that are nebulous at best. Profligate spending on those diversions helped produce a financial crisis in late 2007 that forced MCSO to curtail or reduce important law-enforcement functions.In terms of support services, MCSO has allowed a huge backlog of outstanding warrants to accumulate, and has seriously disadvantaged local police departments by closing satellite booking facilities. MCSO’s detention facilities are subject to costly lawsuits for excessive use of force and inadequate medical services. Compounding the substantive problems are chronically poor record-keeping and reporting of statistics, coupled with resistance to public disclosure.
And now he's devoting his energies to one of the more noxious-sounding "reality shows" yet devised -- like something from a Phil Dick novel.
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Sounds like a job for KopBusters!!!
Turning the legal system into entertainment seems rather sleazy. It's one thing to take a camera along on normal police patrols, but actively setting up things like this is way over the line. If the cops start making money this way, it'll be as corrupting to law enforcement as the drug trade.
Joe Arpaio is a self-aggrandizing bully and murderer that likes to torture prisoners in his "tent city" jails here in Phoenix.
Prisoners are given tainted food and forced to work in chain gangs wearing striped pajamas.
He's generally too busy harrassing Mexicans and prisoners to bother fighting real crime.
He's a world class disgrace who has been condemned by Amnesty International for his cruelty and racism.
But the Mor(m)on godlings and other repiglican yayhoos keep returning him to office.
I am a resident of Maricopa County, and this guy is an outrage. Given his ego, and his GWB-like "I'm above the law" complex, it doesn't surprise me one bit that he's doing this reality show. I cannot believe this jerk was re-elected again...we need term limits in the worst way.
I'm really worried about what will happen around here when Janet Napolitano leaves for D.C. and we're left with Arpaio's Repub enablers in the governor's office and the state legislature. It's bad enough already...
even if they are criminals, somehow illegal at worst, or conflict of interest at best, especially if the sheriff is the star?
I mean...I'm no lawyer, but this just seems like it shouldn't be legal to me...
It's propaganda.
The man is a joke as a law enforcement officer and I cannot believe he keeps getting re-elected. Even people that used to support him tell me that they think that it is time foe him to go.
The one thing this man is good at is self-aggrandizement and self-promotion. Lots of us residents of Maricopa County wish he would just go away.
Here in Arkansas, many speak of him as if he's some sort of saint. (Many of those who make that claim secretly dislike Catholics, so the irony would be lost on them.)
I get about six to eight emails a year regarding all the good work he's done for Arizona.
Tell ye what, get rid of him, and go back to the system of treating convicts like kings and queens, with TV's, and hot meals, and hot showers, let them have everything they want, free educations, yadda yadda yadda. With Arpaio in control at least the convicts are treated like convicts. Or is that just inhumane to you idiots.
have died in his jail, for no good reason. Sure, lots of people like him around here. But just as many people think he is a buffoon. He has a complete PR department whose only purpose is to keep him in the limelight. No place that I have ever lived did I know the name of the sheriff as readily as I do here in Maricopa.
I do not believe that the prisoners should be coddled, but humane treatment would be nice. And it would be nice if he would at least attempt to find the people that are wanted by the county (Does 40,000 outstanding warrants sound like this guy is doing his job?).
This TEEVEE show gives the elaborate illusion that Arpaio is doing something about it when he is not. Why go to such elaborate lengths and expense? We would like him to get off the TEEVEE and just do his job.
But y'know, lots of people are fooled by the flash and theater of things these days instead of the substance... otherwise, GWBush would not have been elected and Sarah Palin Would not be the phenom that she was.
Just the kind of comment we would expect from a willfully ignorant "hick". Arpaio could not catch his dick in his zipper. A badge heavy thug who needs to be inside the "POW" camps he has made for anyone different from himself. Just wait until "nickel bag joe" decides that rednecks with one tooth and no shoes are criminals, then we will hear a different song from ye, and yadda yadda? Are you fucking kidding me? Wake up and put on some shoes hillbilly.CEO,citizens,eyes,open
Since I'm from Alaska, I'm immediately a "willfully, ignorant hick, and a hillbilly redneck. This is what Sarah Palin has done for us Alaskans that live here. Thank you sooo much for your ignorance and blind ways. Until you actually visit this State, and meet some of these "hillbillies" yourself, I suggest you keep your mouth closed.
about treating people rough for minor offenses.
All kinds of people end up in county jail here in Maricopa.
Some guys/gals lose a job and can't make their child support (or rent for all that) and end up in the pokey, working a chain gang.
Accumulated traffic offenses and shite like that...
While the brigands of Wall St and DC rampage, tools like you allow themselves to be divided from the rest of the working people.
People get killed in Arpaio's jails for feck sake.
You are part of the problem in a biig way.
Go hump a ptarmigan.
Why don't you go bugger your sister some more; be nice and use Vaseline this time :)
I've got a overweight brother though....
But that kinda thing is frowned upon outside Alaska.
Maybe the Talibunny could lend you some of the publicatioms in front of her...
Fox viewers can't get enough of that shit.
He's a piece of work, but he keeps getting re-elected, most recently this year when he was returned by about 55% of the electorate.
He tried to sue a Phoenix "alternative" news paper, New Times, for publishing his home address.
Isn't this how Jesus was busted by the Romans?
You should read the book, the movie doesn't do it justice.
I never got into historical fiction.
maybe it was hysterical fantasy?
Back when he was a DEA Agent, his fellow agents tagged him Nickel-Bag Joe for all the petty arrests he went after. He's a grandstanding megalomaniac and a bully. That said, the other conservative Latino haters here in Arizona absolutely *love* the guy. It's truly sad.
And this show is cruel and unusual punishment. It's one thing to lure somebody to a set, but then to toy with him a while before the arrest is chicken-shit and just plain wrong. If you're going to arrest the guy, bring him in and get it over with.
On a bunch of Sherrifs, or maybe they could try actually prosecuting Madoff.
This show sounds like a good one to miss.
except for football...that's been a hard one to boycott...
Same here. Gotta see the football games no matter if it means going into Funkville TV land to see them.
keeping the TV turned off, it's easy.
I used to be a baseball fan up until the AZ Diamondbacks won the Series.
Then they came back next year and threatened to strike; dipshit millionaires like Curt Schilling who used his popularity to shill for Repignicans.
Then I found out that the majority of MLB and NFL contribute to the RNC.
Bye bye teevee!
BUT!
My Panthers are doin SO GOOD this year!
And I gotta have my history and sci-fi channel fix...not to mention adult swim....
And TDS...and the Colbert Report...and Keith and Rachel...that's about all I watch...honest!
I'll never forget when in the fall of 04, Schilling used the platform of the Boston Red Sox first World Series Championship in 86 years to urgue the jubilant fans at Boston's victory parade to re-elect Bush....what a dumbass.
That's the exact same thing that he did here in AZ after the D-Backs won the "01 Series!
That, the right wing sportscasters, and the baseball "strike" prompted me to search the innernets tubes.
Lo and behold, most major sports leagues contribute heavily to the RNC!
Or they did in 2002, anyway.
I'm trying very consciously to avoid patronizing ANY Repignican - leaning corporations, like the NFL and MLB.
Feck the feckin' fecks.
Go, you Hotspurs...
What do you do when the real criminals are wearing the badges? [and running the government?]
Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin to slit throats.
Let's hope though, that won't be necessary.
But my flag has a torch and pitchfork where the crossbones would be.
Just sayin...
Isn't Arizona the state that is planning on charging an 8year old as an adult?
That's far from Phoenix, in the formerly land-grant Hispanic-turned-Mormon town of St. Johns, Apache County. It's a horribly bungled case. The kid was immediately pressured into a "confession." No attorney present, probably wasn't Mirandized. Ba-a-ad. --MaryK
With 40,000 outstanding warrants, should be on longer than "60 Minutes".
how about a reality show where they film evictions, with a funny scam to get the people to come home from job and apartment hunting with wonderful news?
Or, they take PTSD veterans who are separated and set up a reconciliation meeting with their spouses only to hand them divorce papers instead?
There are just so many opportunities for new Fox reality shows.
They all think they they are Cowboys.
more like a Cowboy Curtis Complex
Cowboy Curtis was cool!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3VdDIHJkbQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWI-5b2MHNI
In a brokeback Mtn. sorta way, (no offense to Mr. Fishburne)
I always had to wonder about the frosting pink shirt and gericurls.
I'd almost give my right one to see him dressed like that dodging bullets in the Matrix
OH man! That would be worth it almost...as long as it yours...not mine, lol!
Maybe this will backfire in Arpaio's and Fox's faces: instead of being a hit show where everyone laughs at the dumb people lured into their own arrests, maybe it will expose Sheriff Joe's (lack of) character and violations of human rights to a larger audience, thus raising outrage among people outside AZ...
A girl can dream.
http://www.duiblog.com/2008/12/16/here-come-t...
Marines working with Highway Patrol and local sheriffs for for a DUI sting.
This is completely illegal folks. The military is not supposed to police citizens.
Have you heard about the checkpoints near the Canadian and Mexican Borders that are inside the US?
No more rumors about Martial Law. It's here! You think they'd have the courtesy to tell us?
no pussy comin' at us! Where it at?
I missed something obviously...
Must be latin or something but it protects US citizens from being policed by the military unless martial law is declared.
That reference went RIGHT over me head, lol!
during the campaign, from any candidate, is the need to reform our law enforcement system. We have got some really crooked cops out there.
A friend of mine returned to his car at the beach to find cop waiting for him. The officer said he had expired registration and issued him a ticket. After showing him a valid CA ID, the officer took his finger prints! (Did you know you can be fingerprinted for a DMV expired tag?)
The officer also checked a box on the ticket that said "NON-REPAIRABLE", this meant that showing he had fixed the registration was not enough, and he had to pay a $200 fine instead of a $10 administrative charge. He completely cooperated with the cop, so it was just for revenue enhancement for the city.
Didna Chief Clancy Wiggims already do this?
I have a football friend (I'm on his team) and once he sent me one of those spam emails about how great Joe was. It had all the typical BS it in including the "if you don't agree then don't reply"...So of course I did a reply all and blasted the email. My friend also routinely drives after drinking and I pointed out to him that if he gets caught doing this in AZ, Joe would toss his ass in jail and throw away the key. I also pointed out that, since my friends has been known to smoke a little pot, that this would get him arrested and jailed too...I don't get any more emails but I also haven't been invited to play on the team anymore.
Maybe you're better off now.
But I like playing football on that team.
It's ok though since I'm getting a bit old to be risking myself liek that. Busted fingers and twisted ankles suck when I have RL to take care off.
But thanks for responding.
I'm too old and decrepit for football for sure, lol!
Kind of reminds me of the movie The Running Man with govenor Ah-nold. If the game show depicted in that movie should ever become real, this is probably how it would start.
And Robocop comes to mind too.
Cops with corporate sponsors.
This is a good moment to point to the brilliant work of KopBusters
On the upside, given the "creative" history at Faux (see: "Half Hour News Hour") I can't believe they're going to be able to come up with more than a dozen scams. Should lead to a very short run.
Still, this is absolutely disgusting. Why don't we just get it over with and start filling the stadiums with gladiator fights to the death? That's what they really want right?
Clip the cable and get a DVD player, skip the brainwashing funk pumped into your home and away from your children. I haven't been hooked up to pre programmed mind numbing brain washing since 1996 or '97 (Monica Lewinsky made me do it).
You can fulfill your hunter gatherer urges, news jones and entertainment fix all with the internet and DVDs.
Take control your life!!!
How DAAAAARE you be LOGICAL! ;)
I rarely watch broadcast television anymore except PBS and the Simpsons.
I'm more likely to be watching The Lone Ranger with Lee Powell, or the Lone Ranger Rides Again with Robert Livingstone, Batman with Lewis Wilson and Douglas Croft, or Batman and Robin with Robert Lowery and John Duncan, Superman and Superman v Atom Man with Kirk Alyn, the Shadow with Victor Jory, the Green Hornet and the Green Hornet Returnswith Gordon Jones then Warren Hull, the Spider Web and the Spider Returns with Warren Hull, Flash Gordon, Flash Gordon Goes To Mars, and Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe with Buster Crabbe, Captain Marvel with Tom Tyler, King of the Rocketmen with Tristrim Coffin, Daredevils of the Red Circle with Charles Quigley, David Sharpe, and Herman Brix, all the Dick Tracy's with Ralph Byrd, and the my selections get really obscure.
...not only the Flash Gordon Conquers the Univerrs, but also this Flash: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCFG1WKWFxU He was named after our buddy Flash (whose real name was Gordon.)
Haven't watched TV in years. Raised good kids without it, too. --MaryK
Sounds more like 'The Running Man' by Stephen King
And dont forget...PK Dick stories make brilliant movies...'The Running Man' (which was an excellent book) made 'The Running Man' (which was a horrible movie).
So one of two things are going to happen to at least one victim of this sadistic exploit...he's going to become famous for being a criminal (as in youll be seeing him on TMZ) in the same way Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian are famous for making sex tapes...or someone is going to be elated at the prospect of leaving their criminal life behind and then have it ripped away from them, cause them to harm themselves or others. and theres NO WAY AT ALL that a lawsuit would come from that.
actually, whats MOST likely to happen is that the show will bomb...pff...'firefly' got shitcanned, but now we have this...
I much prefer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDQ_A8Skzdg
WE ARREST YOU?!?!? Now there's Billo wet-dream if I ever heard one. How degrading to be arrested by the head of "Alternative Entertainment"?
Oh, and I did NOT shoot the deputy.
During Arpaio's tough-guy approach to incarceration and enforcement, law suits have emptied Maricopa County's coffers. As a result, Maricopa county cannot obtain insurance without obscene deductibles, and those deductible expenses are crushing everything else.
Take a look through the archives of Phoenix New Times Website...
As New Times first reported last week, Arpaio has cost Maricopa County a staggering $41.4 million in legal fees, insurance premiums, and payouts to jail-abuse victims. Arpaio's track record is so bad that the county has been forced to switch to an insurance policy with a $5 million deductible. Insurance won't cover a cent of any suit that settles for less than that.
http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2007-12-27/new...
Good info. there. If this guy is left unchecked, he'll hang j-walkers on the spot!
that the criminal actually SIGNS a release to be show on the TEEVEE. That would be the LAST thing that I would sign if I were punk'd by the cops.
The criminal is signing it under false pretenses.. Also, this is a form of Entrapment, atleast! Which are both illegal.
Entrapment is when the police convince or coerce an individual to engage in illegal activity when they would not have done so normally, then prosecute them for that crime. These people already have warrants and are just being convinced to show up to be arrested.
The contract that they have them sign is bunk though.
puttin' the 'ugh' back in 'ugly'. he's the shame of maricopa county; an old prick with a bad attitude and a tarnished badge. phoenix is hot, hell's hotter.
the fact that he's an old f...r. he's going to die real soon and he's going to have to answer to the big man in the sky. he's going to get his.
The USA has turned into a three-ring circus; anything for the mob.
Next up, "Amerikkkan Galadiator." Watch as Gays, Latinos and blacks are eaten by lions, or crushed under monster trucks. Hot, fresh, cheap, huge-portioned, junk food sold in diposable non-biodegradable containers. Double-wide spectator seating available on demand. Hurry in!!
With melted Soylent Green, only fifty cents more.
I do find it interesting that when the police are looking to arrest individuals with outstanding warrants, the preferred bait is "good jobs".
We're talking about FAUX, the channel that inflicted "World's Wildest Police Videos" and "Cops" onto the world. Those two shows were near open in their racism.
There was rarely more than one white "suspect" during any episode of that trash. Why should it surprise that they are now making another show with an openly racist pig at the "host"?
"The police chief had stolen the spotlight, and the sheriff was furious."
See the link below. The Mesa Police Chief George Gascón, gave ol' joe a swift kick in the b*lls!
http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2008-07-10/new...
And let's not forget the armored vehicle he bought with the .50 caliber machine gun... Not just stupid, but dangerously stupid!
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