Why Does America's Scariest Sheriff Have a Reality Show?

Joe Arpaio, the longtime Sheriff of Maricopa County Arizona, prides himself on his cruel treatment of prisoners and on his belief and that incarceration under harsh conditions, even while awaiting trial, represents effective law enforcement. For years, he's been a front-line loser in the neverending War on Drugs. His penchant for inflicting suffering on his prisoners is legendary; he built a "tent city" to deal with jail overcrowding while spending millions on a high-tech, air-conditioned building for his police dogs.

These days he has shifted his focus from drugs to immigration. He unabashedly promotes racial profiling among his officers and devotes a huge slice of his resources to make meaningless and unnecessary immigration arrests. He has ignored 40,000 outstanding felony warrants in his county, and the Mayor of Phoenix said he has created a "sanctuary" for felons. Angela Kelley (no relation) details some of Arpaio's recent transgressions in the Huffington Post.

Voices from across the political spectrum - elected officials, media outlets, religious leaders, and community leaders -- have been critical of Sheriff Joe, his tactics, and his impact. A July 2008 East Valley Tribune series of articles chronicling its investigation of the MCSO found that immigration-enforcement activities have been expensive, resulting in few key arrests and drawing law enforcement personnel away from investigating non-immigration-related crimes. The Sheriff's Office created a $1.3 million deficit in just three months, much of it due to overtime. To staff the immigration team, Sheriff Arpaio pulled deputies off patrol beats and used them to run the human-smuggling unit. Tactics include racial profiling, sweeps of Hispanic neighborhoods, and stops for minor traffic offenses.

Arpaio likes the camera. He says and does many of these polarizing things in an attempt to draw media attention, and it works (I'm writing about him right now). But Fox has given Arpaio a bit too much spotlight. He will be featured in a ridiculous three-part reality miniseries called "Smile, You're Under Arrest," launching on December 27.

America's Voice is doing something about it. Watch the video below and take action to help spark a federal investigation of Arpaio's counterproductive, and quite possibly illegal, conduct.