What was Joe Arpaio thinking?

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's never-ending pursuit of media coverage and publicity only serves to undermine his (and his agency's) credibility every day.

From the East Valley Tribune (emphasis mine) -

Sheriff Joe Arpaio joins reality TV

Fox television is considering a comedic reality cop show whose pilot episode starred the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office.

The premise of the show, tentatively titled “Smile! You’re Under Arrest,” is to lure fugitives to an unexpected arrest with bogus promises of prizes and riches, according to Scott Grogin, vice president of corporate communications for Fox.

{snip}

Variety reported that everyone who was arrested for the pilot got to keep the prize they were offered.

Bribing criminals now Joe?? Where is that covered in Dick Tracy's Crimestopper Handbook?

Why doesn't he just retire and move to Hollywood? He'll be happy because he'll be in a place with more cameras than people, and we'll be happy because we'll be able to have a true professional in charge of MCSO.

Note: it wouldn't surprise me if the prizes were paid for by Fox, not MCSO. However, whether the money came from Fox or from MCSO, MCSO was part of the scheme to convey the money to known criminals.

Either way, Arpaio comes off looking as if he is more concerned with publicity than with doing his job properly.

Of course, that's not exactly breaking news. :)

Later!