Thread: AZ-War of words continues between Gordon, Arpaio

War of words continues between Gordon, Arpaio
July 15th, 2008 @ 12:34pm
by KTAR Newsroom; Kevin Tripp/KTAR

Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon and Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio squared off again Tuesday in their ongoing battle over enforcement of immigration laws.

Gordon, talking with News/Talk 92-3 KTAR's Darrell Ankarlo, said he would not let Arpaio work for him, saying the sheriff has lost his focus and is not helping the county at all with reducing crime.

Arpaio, also on the show ``Ankarlo Mornings," said Gordon is not an expert on law enforcement and represents only one vote on the City Council. He also said Gordon lies and misrepresents statistics.

Asked whether, if he were the sheriff's boss, he wouild have Arpaio working for him, Gordon said no.

``I think with law enforcement, the last thing anybody wants is somebody with a gun, both that is angry and shaking," the mayor said.

``You'll see he (Arpaio) is increasingly engaging in bizarre behavior, erratic ramblings and misstatements, contradicting himself within the same statement."

Arpaio said Gordon has no business criticizing him for doing his job and that he has overwhelming public support, compared with the mayor.

``He constantly criticizes me with my 48 years of law enforcement," Arpaio said. ``A poll came out today, Fox, it said 86 percent support me, 14 percent support the mayor. He better look at what the people think. We are politicians, we serve the people."

Arpaio added, ``I don't know when he became an expert on law enforcement. He's just a mayor with one vote."

Arpaio, who continued another one of his controversial crime suppression efforts in Mesa on Tuesday, is putting too much emphasis on immigration issues, Gordon said.

``You see rising crime rates in the county, you see the response times that have gone sky high where he's responsible, and you see the arrest rates going down, any other chief wouldn't be there," said Gordon.

Arpaio said his deputies have made thousands of felony arrests and conducted thousands of investigations and that 3,000 members of the Phoenix police union have endorsed him for re-election in November.

He said Gordon has attacked him with ``petty statistics."

``I'm not going to debate this guy. I'm going to keep doing my job. The people support me. I'm the elected sheriff and I back up my officers," Arpaio said.

On Monday, while announcing the latest crime suppression effort, Arpaio sarcastically thanked Phil Gordon for the mayor's complaint about him to the Justice Department.

The mayor told News/Talk 92.3 KTAR the pressure may be too much for Arpaio.

"The continuing bizarre behavior of the sheriff, including last night's demonstration of anger and sarcasm, is continuing evidence that the stress and criticism of the office is affecting the sheriff's judgment, Gordon said Tuesday.

The sheriff, meanwhile, said Gordon and Gov. Janet Napolitano, through their comments have focused attention on illegal immigration. Arpaio said illegal immigrants are leaving the Valley ``in droves."

http://ktar.com/?nid=6&sid=898064

Arpaio added, ``I don't know when he became an expert on law enforcement. He's just a mayor with one vote



He's a Mayor in name only. A Mino.




``You see rising crime rates in the county, you see the response times that have gone sky high where he's responsible, and you see the arrest rates going down, any other chief wouldn't be there," said Gordon.



LOL.....what Gordon fails to mention is the large territory the MCSO covers, the number of officers they have to cover it, and the rising numbers of crimes and accidents committed/caused by illegals that the officers have to respond to.

It's a simple matter of them not being able to be everywhere at one time and if I were Gordon, I wouldn't talk.......I've heard that in Phoenix the response time isn't so great either.

But again, that is not the fault of the PD......just a matter of too much to be covered by a limited amount of personnel,

I love Sheriff Joe,he has an answer for everything and he always ends up exposing the OBL's as the idiots they are

Sheriff Arpaio is just enforcing the law which is more than I can say for most law enforcement officials and our own federal government. He's just doing a job they won't do.

Gordon you have so many "Drop House's" in your area i do sometimes wonder ? Two weeks ago you had "Mexican Black Op's" right there in Phoenix . You need to take an honest look in a Mirror imo . Your Not even Worthy of Newprint

Arpaio, who continued another one of his controversial crime suppression efforts in Mesa on Tuesday, is putting too much emphasis on immigration issues, Gordon said.

Mayor Gordon, how can you ignore the fact that ITS THE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS who are responsible for most of the crimes? Sheriff Arpaio should be praised by you and Janet Napolitano.

There cant be enough EMPHASIS on illegal aliens committing crimes.

What's bizarre is seeing a mayor attack a sheriff, for all things, ENFORCING THE LAW! Now that's bizarre!

Originally Posted by gofer

What's bizarre is seeing a mayor attack a sheriff, for all things, ENFORCING THE LAW! Now that's bizarre!

It's even more bizarre when you stop to consider that just two weeks ago, Gordon's own police officers came damned close to being ambushed and murdered in cold blood by a Mexican military hit squad who had just committed a murder in Phoenix.

What in the heck is wrong with him?