Voting Station

Joe Arpaio

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Crime Fighter

The Resume

    (June 14, 1932- )
    Born in Springfield, Massachusetts
    Sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona since 1992
    Self-proclaimed 'Toughest Sheriff in the Country'
    Veteran of the United States Army (1950-54) and spent 25 years in the DEA before becoming sheriff

Why he might be annoying:

    He's very egotistical and a major publicity hound.
    He may have used to his office to go after some of his critics.
    He feeds inmates substandard food and only twice a day.
    He treats all his inmates the same, forgetting that some have not been convicted of a crime and are merely awaiting trial and are to be considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
    He made headlines when current and former police officers alleged his office didn't treat sex crimes seriously, failing to investigate dozens of reported sex crimes and leading lackluster investigations into dozens of others (December 5, 2011).

Why he might not be annoying:

    His mother died giving birth to him and he was raised by his hard-working father.
    Prisoners in his jail may live in tents in the Arizona heat (which Arpaio points out is how our brave troops in Iraq and Afghanistan live), cannot watch television or have porn, wear pink uniforms, cannot smoke, will probably work on a chain gang (including women and juveniles), but are given the opportunity to take GED classes and do volunteer work for good causes. Not surprisingly this produces prisoners who don't want to return to jail.
    He is hated by inmates, was sued and criticized by the ACLU, Amnesty International and the Anti-Defamation League (huh!?), was called the 'worst' sheriff in the country by the New York Times, has had repeated plots against his life foiled (including one by one of his chaplains!), had a one million dollar bounty put on his head by Mexican drug lords and was being invesigated in August 2010 by Eric Holder's Justice department, yet, he kept getting re-elected by the people he represented.
    He shows little interest in politics or higher office, although he would make a very strong candidate for many offices in Arizona.
    There has never been the slightest allegation of personal corruption on his part and the Justice Department's investigation of him only started after Arizona passed a tough new anti-immigration law which he strongly and publicly supported. Nor has the Justice Department done anything to go after the drug dealers offering a bounty on his head.

Credit: tom_jeffords


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 34 Votes: 32.35% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 124 Votes: 58.87% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 87 Votes: 52.87% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 146 Votes: 58.22% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 324 Votes: 52.47% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 108 Votes: 48.15% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 188 Votes: 47.87% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 2998 Votes: 51.17% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 723 Votes: 62.93% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 83 Votes: 49.40% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 103 Votes: 50.49% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 1283 Votes: 39.67% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 201 Votes: 50.25% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 183 Votes: 52.46% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 293 Votes: 44.03% Annoying