Thread: Taxpayers' tab unclear for Arpaio reality show

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Taxpayers' tab unclear for Arpaio reality show
Sheriff's Office provided equipment, deputies
105 commentsby Richard Ruelas - Mar. 29, 2009 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic

A few weeks before taping began for "Smile . . . You're Under Arrest!" - the reality show featuring Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio - his media-relations director worried about how much public money would be spent producing the program that would use pranks to lure 18 low-level fugitives into cuffs.

"Of upmost importance to us," Lisa Allen wrote in the memo, "is our responsibility to Maricopa County taxpayers, that they do not incur expenses pertaining to a for-profit television venture."

But any concerns the Sheriff's Office might have had soon appeared to evaporate. It went on to offer up sworn deputies, office space, equipment and helicopters to the Hollywood producers, a review of records shows. The police agency also used its pull to try securing locations that could serve as a fake spa on the show.
The reality show did not reimburse the county for any expenses, the Sheriff's Office said.

What taxpayers received in return was a three-episode run of the show on a low-profile cable outlet, Fox Reality Channel. Each episode has aired several times since late December. They get another airing as a mini-marathon on Wednesday.

"Don't talk about the money," Arpaio said of the show's expenses. "It wasn't that much money."

Arpaio said his office could not provide a figure for how much was spent.

"We never broke down the expenses," he said. "That was our normal fugitive operation. Whether we did it on the streets, which we do all the time, or we did it in a studio environment."

Arpaio, who appeared on several national shows to promote the program, including "Late Night with Conan O'Brien," said any costs of the operation were justified because deputies arrested 353 additional fugitives in the weeks after the television crew left town.

"This is nothing different, except it was on television, a reality show," Arpaio said.


An elaborate ruse

For the show, producers used various schemes to lure fugitives to a location.

They took names, addresses and phone numbers off of warrants provided to them by the Sheriff's Office, authorities said.

Some of the wanted were telephoned and told they won cash. Some were sent letters inviting them to a celebration. Others were lured through social-networking Web sites such as Facebook or MySpace.

"Letters and Facebook were most successful," said Cmdr. Larry Farnsworth, head of the Sheriff's Office civil division.

The fugitives were picked up from their homes in SUVs filled with plainclothes deputies. Countersurveillance units followed the vehicles, Farnsworth said.

Each episode put a half-dozen people through the same prank. In one episode, they were told they were cast as extras in a jailhouse movie. At another, they were given free treatments at the new "J.L. Spa," where the robes were decorated with black and white stripes.

Four improvisational actors helped propel the ruses. After the stunts reached their pinnacle, the fugitives were told they were on a prank show on Fox. They were told to smile for the camera as deputies arrested them.

Eighteen wanted fugitives were arrested during the filming of the show. All of those arrested were, by design, low-level offenders.

"We weren't interested in those violent (fugitives) or anything like that," said Scott Satin, a producer of the show, speaking from his California office.

Ten of those arrested were released from jail within a matter of hours, or after an overnight stay, records show. Five of those arrested eventually served months-long stints in prison or jail. Three people had their cases eventually dismissed, including one man whose warrant was quashed on the day he was arrested.

One man featured on the show has since been rearrested for other crimes. Two people released after their televised arrest failed to show for subsequent court dates; warrants were reissued for their capture.

Producers paid the fugitives for their time, fulfilling a promise made to the fugitives when they called to arrange their limousine pickup.

"Legally, we had to give it to them," Satin said.

A flier sent to fugitives, a copy of which was in Sheriff's Office records, promised $300 for showing up. But Satin said some were offered more.

Those captured walked into jail with cash amounts ranging from $500 to $1,200, according to booking slips.

Each, following their arrest, signed a release agreeing to be on the show.

Daniel Moya, the first man arrested under the operation, had a warrant from Avondale Municipal Court because he hadn't paid a fine for having an open container of beer. He received a call telling him he won $800 and that a limo would pick him up at 3 p.m. that next Tuesday.

Deputies ferried Moya from his Avondale home to the Myst nightclub in Scottsdale, 27 miles away. Moya said deputies posed as winners or as coordinators.

"There were high fives and 'We won' and this and that," Moya said. "All the way up there, they were still giving me high fives."

Moya appeared in a fake fashion show. He was arrested after walking the runway modeling black and white jail stripes, a purported Halloween costume.

"How come they didn't just take me straight to Madison (jail?)" said Moya. "Why did they have to take me to Scottsdale to make a fool out of myself?"

Like the other people arrested, Moya was paid for appearing on the show. He says someone put $500 in an envelope and placed it with the rest of his belongings, which he received when he was released from Avondale jail four days later.


Producing the show

Footage from the show indicates that a slew of Sheriff's Office personnel were used. Records show that the Sheriff's Office gave producers lists of undercover deputies, about a dozen in each episode, who needed to have their faces fuzzed out before the shows aired.

But the Sheriff's Office said it could not say how many sworn deputies worked during the three long production days during August 2007.

"I couldn't even guess," said Farnsworth, who coordinated the deputies.

Farnsworth said he was careful to provide enough staff so that nothing could go wrong.

"It was a safe staffing," he said.

Those who worked on the television show would have taken time off later in the week to make up for the extra hours worked, Farnsworth said. Records show each day of filming lasted about 10 hours.

Initial discussion about "Smile" began in May 2007, according to e-mails released in response to a records request by The Republic. During the next two months, producers and high-ranking members of the sheriff's staff met three times to discuss logistics. Following the third meeting, Allen, the head of Arpaio's media-relations unit, expressed concern about cost.

In a letter dated July 5, 2007, she stressed that the production should not affect normal operations of the department.

"Furthermore," she wrote, "it is necessary that any personnel costs associated with warrant research and fugitive round up would be incurred by said production company."

But that demand lasted about a week. On July 11, 2007, Allen wrote a memo about a coming meeting with the producers.

"No money talk," she wrote, ending the e-mail with a smiley face.

Farnsworth, whose division handles warrants operations, communicated frequently with David Tittle, one of the show's coordinating producers. Farnsworth was prompt and detailed in his responses to Tittle, according to the e-mail exchanges.

On June 21, Tittle sent an e-mail to Farnsworth asking about helicopters.

"This is out of left field," Tittle wrote, "but, do you guys have a helicopter that we may be able to use for a second camera angle?"

Farnsworth responded, "Yes, we have the resource and capability."

He later sent a longer e-mail that included a detailed listing of the Aviation Division's helicopters and fixed-wing craft.

Both producers and the Sheriff's Office say the show hired its own chopper.

On June 22, Tittle told Farnsworth that some producers might fly to Arizona the next week. Farnsworth replied within 15 minutes. "My calendar is open and I am available the entire time," he wrote. On June 25, he wrote Tittle that sheriff's personnel were "told to get warrants ready and they are being fed new warrants daily."

The Sheriff's Office conducted as many as 20 background checks on employees of the show so they could be given access to the secure facility, according to e-mails. Those employees researched 2,139 warrants, according to Sheriff's Office records.

A phone line was set up, according to an e-mail from Farnsworth, in an office lent to the producers. There, they waited for calls from fugitives responding to their invitations.

In July 2007, Tittle asked Farnsworth for "any materials from previous stings" to get an idea of what works in luring out fugitives. Farnsworth replied: "We need to talk about this."

A few hours later, another employee sent Farnsworth an e-mail. It listed 16 Phoenix-area cities, as well as Tucson and the Pima County Sheriff's Office.

"We have left messages with all of them regarding sting ops - waiting for calls," the e-mail said.

By August 2007, two spots had been picked. One was Myst nightclub. The other was Illuma Studios. Both were in Scottsdale. According to e-mails, sheriff's personnel conducted a "walk through/security assessment" of both locations.

Farnsworth wrote to Tittle about his attempt to secure a third site, mentioning that he had spoken with the security director of the Wigwam Golf Resort & Spa in Litchfield Park. "After our discussion and that the Sheriff's Office is involved they are willing to go forward with the production," he wrote. The Wigwam was not used as a location. Instead, the producers used a home in Gilbert.

During taping, the Sheriff's Office used its just-purchased Mobile Command Center, records show. The semi-truck and trailer are designed to be ready at all times, according to the sheriff's Web site, in an "emergency or large-scale disaster."

After the three episodes were taped, fugitives kept calling the number listed on fliers and Internet sites. Farnsworth said he would answer the phone.

"I told them the promotion was over, but we're going to be doing another one. Could we get your address?" Farnsworth said. "Then I went and arrested them."

Deputies made 353 more arrests in the 31 days following, according to a spreadsheet provided by the Sheriff's Office.

"This wasn't a one-sided exchange," Farnsworth said. "I used them, also."

Farnsworth said those arrests did not make a dent in the number of outstanding warrants. The Sheriff's Office has said there are 75,000 unserved warrants, with about 39,000 being felony warrants.

Once the show began airing, Joel Friedman, the executive producer of the show, was pleased that Arpaio was promoting it.

"The ratings are obviously holding up and the presence of the Sheriff and the press he has garnered has made that possible," he wrote in an e-mail.

Friedman wrote that he was told by the network to prepare a rough schedule for eight additional episodes.

Arpaio said he would demand the production company pay the costs for any future shows. "There ain't gonna be a penny," he said, sternly. "They're going to pay for every notebook."

Reach the reporter at 602-444-8473 or richard.ruelas@arizonarepublic.com.
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/ ... e0401.html

I've never seen the show yet. Let me know when it's on again please.