Hits and misses for Sheriff Babeu: how is all this playing?

Posted: Dec 02, 2010 8:43 PM PST
Updated: Dec 03, 2010 3:09 PM PST


FLORENCE, Ariz. (KGUN9-TV) - He's been called one of the country's toughest sheriffs. Among Arizona sheriffs, Pinal County's Paul Babeu is probably second only to Maricopa County's Joe Arpaio in national visibility. This week the sheriff suffered a major black eye but also scored big with a dramatic crackdown on drug and human smuggling.

How is all this playing with Pinal voters and leaders?

First, the black eye. Wednesday the sheriff had to suspend a man he'd previously lauded as a hero. Louie Puroll's story of being shot and wounded by suspected smugglers in the embattled Vekol Valley area helped the sheriff make the case for SB 1070 and for increased border security. When the Phoenix New Times challenged the story, the sheriff reopened the case, and new evidence backed Puroll's version of events. But in a follow-up story, that same New Times reporter accused Puroll of, among other things, making threats.

On the same day the suspension happened, Sheriff Babeu's office released the tally for 8 days of sweeps through that same embattled Vekol Valley area. 9 On Your Side accompanied the deputies on one night of operations. Dramatic video showed the deputies using night vision goggles to help them pull suspects and drugs out of the brush. Net haul: more than five tons of pot and several suspects arrested.

With these hits and misses, what's the score?

The sheriff's actions were playing well with many of the voters KGUN9 News spoke with Thursday night. KGUN9's Joel Waldman sat with patrons at LB Inn, who chewed over the issues of human and drug smuggling. They agreed those problems have been going on for years. But, with a new sheriff in town, they say drug and human trafficking is now getting a lot more attention. "I think he's doing a fabulous job," said voter Jason Andrus. "He just needs more authority; more help, I think," added Willie Cork.

And, that help has started to arrive. Recently, Sheriff Paul Babeu got a seven man anti-smuggling tactical team, paid for partly by Pinal County.

Many feel it was that high-profile shooting of Deputy Puroll in April that opened a lot of eyes, driving home the need for more enforcement. But now the latest revelations have some wondering anew what really went down, and whether the sheriff has a good enough handle on the situation. Pinal County Board of Supervisors Chairman Pete Rios is among those with lingering doubts.

"I think there were a lot of people, including law enforcement, who had questions about that original shooting out in the desert," Rios said. "I mean, he was shot by an AK-47, yet there was only a flesh wound."

Rios feels that the latest accusations against Puroll throw new doubts on his story. And he thinks the sheriff needs to do more.

"This basically again raises [the issue of] deputy Puroll's credibility and a lot of people are saying that if he did this now, why can't we re-open that case as well?" asked Rios.

Although Rios has his doubts, he is not willing to throw the sheriff under the bus. He gives Babeu a "B" grade for the work he's done. But the chairman said he'd prefer to see the sheriff and his deputies patrolling neighborhoods, responding to things like DUIs and domestic violence calls. The chairman told 9 On Your side that the issue of trafficking should be dealt with by the feds.

Sheriff Babeu has also called for the feds to do more. But his position now is that if he doesn't deal with the drug problem then no one else will.

On Thursday KGUN9 News' Question of the Day asked viewers to rate Sheriff Babeu's job performance. The web poll is not scientifically accurate, but is often useful in taking a broad snapshot of the pulse of the community. 75% of those voting rated the sheriff's jop performance as excellent. 10% rated it as good. 2.5% said they thought the sheriff was doing a fair job. Only 7.5% rated him as doing a poor job.


http://www.kgun9.com/Global/story.asp?S=13607862