Arpaio exchange prompts search for new officers
by Syleste Rodriguez - Apr. 11, 2008 01:51 PM
12 News
A heated exchange by Sheriff Joe Arpaio and the mayor of the Town of Guadalupe has town leaders considering new options for law enforcement in town.

For the last several years, Maricopa County Sheriff's Office deputies have been patrolling the town, but after last week's exchange, leaders and community members there say they're considering replacing them with other agencies or a private contractor.

Guadalupe Councilman Frankie Montiel is leading the effort in exploring other options. He approved of the job county deputies have done, noting they had even done crime suppressions in town in the past.
But Councilwoman Alma Yolanda Solarez said there were at most 20 deputies in those crime suppressions and they went after drug houses and violent criminals. In the most recent crime suppression, county deputies didn't do that, she said. Town leaders say Arpaio showed up with tanks and dozens of deputies and didn't arrest any drug dealers or violent criminals. Instead, they pulled drivers over for minor technicalities like a broken windshield.

Town leaders say deputies arrested 30 people and nine of them were illegal immigrants. People in town say if Arpaio was trying to clean the town of illegal immigrants, it didn't work. Community members say the morning after Arpaio left, there were three times as many workers waiting along the streets in town.

There's no telling whether Guadalupe streets will soon be patrolled by another agency. Montiel said he's speaking with Phoenix Police Department, the Tempe Police Department and private agencies.


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