Pretty in pink

[Batgirl]

Hardened criminals were forced to wear nothing but pink underwear, flip-flops and handcuffs to walk to their new prison.

The prisoners were made to wear the outfits as they were transferred from their old overcrowded jail to a brand-new facility in Pheonix, Arizona.

Humiliating the tough inmates by forcing them into shocking pink underwear, flip-flops and handcuffs was the brainchild of Joe Arpaio - America's toughest sheriff.

Sheriff Arpaio reckoned the dangerous hardmen would be too embarrassed to go on the run.

He said: "I put them on the street so everybody could see them. They can see this is what happens to people who break the law."

More than 700 inmates made the two-mile journey - dubbed the Walk-A-Conâ - chained by the ankles and wearing nothing but their tattoos and the pink apparel.

After arriving at their new maximum-security home there was an official opening ceremony with one prisoner cutting a pink ribbon on the gates.

The prisoners were watched closely by police in helicopters, armed guards, mounted police, dog teams and marksmen during the transfer.

ananova

[brooklyn6]

lolol

[Rusty24]

Good!

[AmericanGirl]

Isn't this the sherriff who was bringing back chain gangs and had prisioners living in tents in the desert, said if our troops could do it our cons could do it?

[66MP1]

Originally Posted by AmericanGirl

Isn't this the sherriff who was bringing back chain gangs and had prisioners living in tents in the desert, said if our troops could do it our cons could do it?

Thats him, he is called the toughest sheriff in America. I like his way of thinking.

[Rusty24]

Here is the article that I received about 2 years ago:



TOO HOT FOR ARIZONA CONVICTS???
It's even hotter than usual in Phoenix, 116 degrees sets a new record, the Associated Press reports:

About 2,000 inmates living in a barbed-wire-surrounded tent encampment at the Maricopa County Jail have been given permission to strip down to their government-issued pink boxer shorts.

On Wednesday, hundreds of men wearing boxers were either curled up on their bunk beds or chatted in the tents, which reached 138 degrees inside the week before. Many were also swathed in wet, pink towels as sweat collected on their chests and dripped down to their pink socks.

"It feels like we are in a furnace," said James Zanzo't, an inmate who has lived in the tents for 1 1/2 years. "It's inhumane."

Joe Arpaio, the tough-guy sheriff who created the tent city and long ago started making his prisoners wear pink, and eat bologna sandwiches, is not one bit sympathetic.

He said Wednesday that he told all of the inmates: "It's 120 degrees in Iraq and our soldiers are living in tents too, and they didn't commit any crimes, so shut your damned mouths."

KIND OF PUTS THINGS IN PERSPECTIVE DOESN'T IT?

YA GOTTA LOVE THIS SHERIFF...

[diablo21]

yup yup....sure do love him!!! Serves all the cons right! that's what they get! lol

[rabbid37]

Lol!!!

[Batgirl]

Thats him, he is called the toughest sheriff in America. I like his way of thinking.

I like the sound of this guy. Any chance you could send him over here?

[AmericanGirl]

Well I was going to say we needed more people like the sheriff, and then I read this article... and It kind of ties in with the whole Minutemen border patrol issue, and the sheriff.

Apr. 15, 2005 12:00 AM

He is not a hero.

Army reservist Sgt. Patrick Haab is accused of taking the law into his own hands. Of holding seven Mexican nationals at gunpoint, in fear for their lives.

The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office has a name for what Haab allegedly did. And it's not heroics.

It's aggravated assault.

The incident involving Haab occurred Sunday at a remote rest stop on Interstate 8. Haab claims he acted in self-defense after the seven unarmed men stepped out of the bushes.

But when they walked back to their sport utility vehicle, Haab followed. He took the keys, forced the undocumented immigrants to get out of the vehicle and made them lie on the ground. According to the complaint filed in Maricopa County Superior Court, he trained a .45-caliber two-barrel handgun on them.

Threatening people with a deadly weapon is a felony under Arizona law.

It's a sad commentary on America's failed immigration policies that some people now label Haab a hero. And criticize the deputy who arrested him.

Haab's actions took place in the overcharged atmosphere of the so-called Minuteman Project. Volunteers in a civilian patrol are making a highly publicized, monthlong stakeout at the U.S.-Mexican border, an effort criticized both by President Bush and Mexican President Vicente Fox.

We have strong reasons to be frustrated about Arizona's porous border.

Based on apprehension statistics, several thousand people are trying to cross over from Mexico every night. The U.S. Border Patrol finally got badly needed reinforcements just as the Minuteman Project kicked off.

This week we learned that the federal government paid $200 million for high-tech equipment to detect undocumented immigrants, but much of the equipment may not be operating.

We also feel some sympathy for Haab. The 24-year-old has served in the Army Reserve, with stints in Kosovo and Iraq and a planned tour in Afghanistan. Haab said he has taken medication for depression following bouts of post-traumatic stress.

The Maricopa county attorney and the courts will sort out this particular case.

Westerners, steeped in cowboy myths, can take a wrongly romanticized view of vigilante actions.

How different this story would look if it had turned violent. We might be dealing with international repercussions if any of the Mexicans had been hurt. Or bloodshed if Haab had happened upon drug smugglers or desperate coyotes, ready to fight over their human cargo.

The answer to illegal immigration isn't illegal action.

Maricopa County's Joe Arpaio, who enjoys his image as America's toughest sheriff, doesn't mince words: "There's no excuse for any citizen to take the law into their own hands. We're a nation of laws."

And America has trained officers to enforce those laws.

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/articles/0415fri2-15.html

[Rusty24]

Ahh but if they were illegal immigrants who took this guys vehicle or did something worse, who would they be looking for? They are illegal, there is no documentation anywhere of these guys and if you think the Mexican goverment will give up any info try again.

[Ram0528]

exactly......