I am an Arizona native, born in Maricopa County. Over the years, we’ve had numerous county sheriffs who have worked to uphold the law in concert with the surrounding municipalities’ chiefs of police. Although some have been better than others, none has garnered as much attention as Joseph Arpaio, or "Sheriff Joe.” He revels in the moniker, "America’s Toughest Sheriff.”

Sheriff Joe began his law enforcement career as a DEA agent before ultimately running for Maricopa County Sheriff. He appears to enjoy popular support despite his blatant disregard for basic human rights. His colossal ego is regularly fed by both local and national media with his endless parade of gimmicks such as pink inmate underwear and the addition of green bologna to the inmate menu, not to mention his infamous “TentCity.”

But these things look like child’s play when you dig deeper into the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Dept. jail system.

In 1996 alone, three individuals lost their lives in Sheriff Joe’s jails.

Jeremy Flanders was attacked by fellow inmates at Tent City wielding rebar tent stakes. Although these stakes had been used as weapons in an earlier riot at the facility, the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office (“MCSO”) chose not to properly secure them. At trial, evidence was presented that not only did the MCSO have actual knowledge that prisoners used these stakes and tent poles as weapons; they did nothing to prevent it. The plaintiff further stated that the Sheriff admitted knowledge and in fact designed some of the conditions that contributed to the inmate violence.

After the attack, another inmate discovered Mr. Flanders unconscious in his tent, spewing blood from his mouth, nose and ears, gasping for air. The other inmate was unable to ID him due to the severity of his injuries.

Flanders suffered permanent brain damage as a result. The jury awarded Flanders $623,532, of which Sheriff Arpaio was personally responsible for 35%.

Richard Post, a paraplegic, was arrested in 1996 for possession of marijuana and criminal trespass. He was placed in a restraint chair and his neck was broken by the guards. Videotape shows the guards smiling and laughing as Post is being injured. Post lost most of the use of his arm as a result of his injuries at the hands of the deputies. His claims were settled for $800,000.

Scott Norberg was a chronic methamphetamine addict. A former BYU wide receiver, Norberg’s vehicle had run out of gas and was reported by neighbors as a “delirious man” when arrested by the Mesa police department. He was charged with causing a nuisance. He was then taken to and booked into the 4^th Avenue jail in downtown Phoenix, run by the MCSD.

Although Arpaio’s office claimed Norberg was high on meth at the time of his arrest, a post-mortem revealed no meth in his blood, only his urine. This demonstrated that although the drug had been used fairly recently, it was already working its way out of his system.

Norberg was already handcuffed and face down when deputies dragged him from his cell. A videotape of that incident shows the guards severely beating him, using a taser up to 19 times on him until they placed him in a restraint chair with a towel covering his face. Scott Norberg suffocated. When his body was discovered, officers claimed that Norberg had attacked them as they were attempting to restrain him. The medical examiner revealed that the cause of death was due to “positional asphyxia.” Sheriff Joe himself investigated and cleared his officers of any criminal wrongdoing.

The family of Scott Norberg sued Maricopa County, which resulted in an $8.25 million out-of-court settlement.

Despite all of this, the MCSO continued its use of the restraint chair.

In 2001, Charles Agster, a 33 YO mentally disturbed drug addict was arrested for disturbance of the peace in a convenience store late one night. Agster’s parents were attempting to drive him to psych hospital when they stopped off at the store. He became unruly and police were called. The police booked him into 4^th Ave. jail. Although Agster was small in stature, the drugs had given him superhuman strength.

Another videotape shows nine deputies putting Agster into the now famous restraint chair. Agster fights with them and the deputies fight back with full force. One of the deputies kneels on his stomach, pushing his head into his knees and pulling his arms back while strapping his wrists into the chair. Despite the manual for this chair warning of the use of this position as being dangerous and could lead to “positional asphyxia,” again, that is just what happens to Mr. Agster.

Fifteen minutes later, he is unconscious. Despite efforts to revive him, he is brain dead. He is pronounced dead three days later.

These are just a few of the stories of the “Toughest Sherriff in America.” Sherriff Joe Arpaio runs his own personal gulag in Maricopa County. Yet the voters recently re-elected to yet another term. I often wonder why his opponents never calculated the per capita cost of the $43 million that this man has cost the taxpayers of MaricopaCounty to date.

It’s no surprise that Amnesty International has ranked the Maricopa County Jail as one of the worst in the nation. Pray that you never end up there!