Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio Sick Man.
Technorati Tags: Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio, Sheriff Joe Arpaio, Joe Arpaio, arizona corruption, simon walton
Nick R. Martin, Tribune Sheriff Joe Arpaio a (Redneck)
Sheriff Joe Arpaio said Wednesday he is ready to leave Guadalupe after the town’s mayor accused his agency of racial profiling and retaliation during a traffic stop the previous night.
PDF: Memo on the traffic stop from the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Offiice
Arpaio gives Guadalupe 180 days to break ties
Supervisor: Arpaio has ‘gone too far in sweeps
Mayor Rebecca Jimenez made the comments as she was being ticketed late Tuesday for driving with a broken headlight and not having proof of insurance or registration, according to the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office.
“How do you like working for a sheriff who racially profiles against people of color?” Jimenez asked the deputy who pulled her over, according to a report released by the sheriff.
“I didn’t think that Sheriff Joe was going to retaliate against me, but I guess that I was wrong,” she said, according to the report.
Reached by the Tribune, Jimenez said the quotes in the report weren’t completely accurate but were close.
“I just said, ‘You seem like a really nice guy. Why do you work for somebody who harasses people with brown skin?’” Jimenez said by phone.
The mayor became an outspoken critic of Arpaio last month when deputies flooded her small town for two days, trying to find and arrest suspected illegal immigrants.
The sweep netted nine such suspects, but it also put the heavily-Hispanic and American Indian community on edge and turned it into a symbol of outrage against sweeps, which the sheriff has conducted Valleywide.
It also prompted Jimenez to say she wants the sheriff to leave the town, which does not have its own police force. She and the rest of Guadalupe’s leadership have since explored ways to cancel the town’s 30-year-old contract with the sheriff’s office for police services.
“Our deputies will be the happiest deputies in the world to get out of Guadalupe,” Arpaio said in an interview. “Nobody wants it.”
Tuesday night’s traffic stop cemented those feelings, Arpaio said.
After word of the stop traveled up the chain of command, the sheriff’s patrol chief, Dave Trombi, asked the deputy who pulled Jimenez over to write a memo about the events, Arpaio said.
That memo was then released to the media along with an angry news release from the sheriff, declaring his agency had been insulted.
In the memo, Deputy John Brown wrote he spotted a vehicle a little after 9 p.m. driving down the town’s main street, Avenida del Yaqui, with a broken headlight.
When he stopped the car, Jimenez got out and walked up to Brown, asking, “Why did you pull me over?”
After a short conversation, she told him she didn’t have proof of insurance or registration and asked whether she was getting a ticket, according to the report. Brown told her yes.
That’s when she said she believed it was retaliation for her criticism of the sheriff, according to both the report and Jimenez.
“Would I have been given a warning if I had not been the mayor?” Jimenez said Wednesday. “That’s what you have to decide.”
Jimenez said she intends to pay the ticket and probably won’t fight it.
“Whatever the fee is, and I’m hoping it’s not a big one, I’ll have to pay it,” Jimenez said.
Though the contentious stop was another reason for the relationship between Guadalupe and the sheriff’s office to end, Arpaio said the breakup was far from certain.
“You never know what will happen,” he said. “But as it stands now, we don’t want to be in there.”
Technorati Tags: Sheriff Joe Arpaio, Joe Arpaio, Arizona Jails, Simon Walton, Human Rights
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By Chris Summers
BBC News |
Shaun Attwood, serving a nine-and-a-half-year sentence
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A British stockbroker in jail in the United States has been lifting the lid on a controversial prison regime through a compelling weblog.
Sheriff Joe Arpaio forces inmates to wear pink underpants, puts women on chain gangs and brags that it costs more to feed the guard dogs than the prisoners he oversees. No surprise then that he is often called America’s “toughest sheriff”.
But while his hardline tactics have won him plenty of admirers among the voting public of Maricopa county, Arizona, they have outraged human rights campaigners.
Now, as Mr Arpaio seeks re-election to his job, few would have suspected one of his most vocal critics to be a 35-year-old stockbroker from Widnes, Cheshire.
Shaun Attwood landed in Mr Arpaio’s authority after he was arrested in connection with raves he organised in and around Phoenix. Through a series of letters, penned from the confines of his remand centre, and published on the net, Mr Attwood has shed light on a controversial prison regime.
Hardline regime
Sheriff Arpaio’s prison policies have made headlines across the United States. He reinstated chain gangs, for women and juveniles, as well as men, forces inmates to wear pink underwear and the old fashioned black and white hooped uniforms, and hit on the idea of housing minor offenders in a huge “Tent City” in the desert.
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SHAUN ATTWOOD’S STORY
1991: Moves from UK to Arizona, US, and gets a job as stockbroker
Late 1990s: Quits job to become a full-time rave promoter in Phoenix area
May 2002: Arrested on charges of money laundering and held on remand.
Jul 2004: Sentenced to nine-and-a-half years and moved to a prison with ‘better conditions’
Oct 2004: Still blogging and campaigning against sheriff Joe Arpaio
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Mr Arpaio, whose jurisdiction covers Arizona’s capital, Phoenix, is defiant about his policies although insists he runs a “humane jail system”.
Nevertheless, Shaun Attwood’s online diary tells a disturbing story of life in the Maricopa penal system, which he calls “subhuman”. Attwood, who has since been moved to a more lenient state prison, and thus out of sheriff Arpaio’s control, managed his weblog with the help of his father, Derick, back in the UK.
Fleeing the British recession of the time, Attwood, an economics graduate then fresh out of Liverpool University, moved to Phoenix in 1991 where his two aunts lived. He took local exams before getting work as a stockbroker and, as a successful day trader, earned about £1m.
But he became bored with the world of financial markets and opted to turn his hobby into a full-time job. A fan of the rave culture in Liverpool, Attwood took his love of dance music with him when he moved to the US. By the late 1990s he was organising several large raves in and around Phoenix.
It was a role which eventually saw him arrested, and convicted for money laundering and drugs offences. After more than two years in a remand prison, run by Sheriff Arpaio, he was sentenced, in July this year, to nine-and-a-half years inside.
Pencilled pleas
His weblog started after Attwood began writing to one of his aunts in Arizona. Attwood wrote his notes using a tiny, blunt pencil stub - proper pens and pencils are banned as potential weapons - and paper, which was frequently sodden from sweat because of the intense heat in the prison.
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  Everybody complains - but if you don’t like it, you don’t violate the law and you won’t come back  Sheriff Joe Arpaio
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Although bleak and depressing, the letters were also “beautifully written and deeply moving”, according to his father, Derick, to whom they were passed on. Inspired by the example of Salam Pax, the so-called Baghdad Blogger, Derick Attwood set up a weblog in an effort to publicise his son’s views.
Fearing repercussions, Derick Attwood initially made the blog anonymous, calling it simply Jon’s Jail Journal. A picture of Shaun Attwood was only added in the summer, after his move to the state prison.
Attwood’s weblog makes disturbing reading and includes a catalogue of alleged breaches of human rights for those on remand. They include:
No laughing matter: Ruby Wax visits prison guards in Maricopa
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Speaking to the BBC News website, Mr Arpaio defended his regime.
“I feel that you should be tough on crime and run a tough jail. They don’t get steaks, movies, porno, cigarettes or alcohol, but it’s humane,” he says. “Everybody complains - but if you don’t like it, you don’t violate the law and you won’t come back. “
It’s a record he will be judged on later this month when Mr Arpaio, along with thousands of sheriffs, police chiefs and district attorneys across the US, comes up for re-election. He will be running on a Republican party ticket.
Although his Democrat challenger Bob Ayala is highly critical of the Arpaio rule, Derick Attwood says he is unlikely to break the sheriff’s stronghold.
Meanwhile, Shaun Attwood’s mother, Barbara takes comfort in the belief that her son has done something to lift the lid on Maricopa county’s extraordinary prison regime.
“One of the guards once told Shaun ‘nobody knows what’s going on in here’,” says Barbara Attwood. “Well they do now.”
Technorati Tags: Sheriff Joe Arpaio, Chris Summers , simon wlton, Shaun Attwood, Unfair imprisonment, brian howes
This is were my wife and myself would be extradited to if we loose extradition. My Wife would be subject to a chane gang without even being found guilty of anything. The heat is about 120f and it takes for an Arizona defendent almost 3 years to get a trial. 97% of people take a plea bargain so they get out of county jail and into the state prison system in order to get away from the cockroaches and bad treatment.
Is this what extradition is about without any evidence ever being produced?
My Wife and I could end up in this place with no evidence against us we would not survive the loss of our children and then this. God Help Us!
by Sam Beattie, Evening Gazette
A
FORMER traffic cop who recently returned to Cleveland Police after he
was wrongfully sacked has admitted speeding along the A66 at 79mph - in
a 50mph zone.
PC Sultan Alam was pulled over just hours after
being offered his job back following a 13-year battle against his
conviction for handling stolen car parts.
Appearing at
Teesside Magistrates’ Court yesterday, the 45-year-old claimed he
“wasn’t causing a danger to anyone” when he broke the limit by nearly
30mph in November.
Alam, who already had three penalty points
on his licence, said: “I apologise for my transgression on this
occasion that fell below the standards required of me. I’d like to
clarify that I wasn’t actually causing a danger to anyone.”
He said he was giving a lift to his daughter, “who was very, very tired after a long day”.
At 9.42pm on November 19 last year, his 2007 Volkswagen Passat was clocked doing 78.9mph along the A66 in Middlesbrough.
“At the time I wasn’t driving stupidly,” he told the court.
The
dad-of-two, from Acklam, had already pleaded not guilty to exceeding a
40mph limit - a charge raised through an administrative error. At the
time he told the Gazette: “It’s an admin error that’s being queried.
“I’ve been charged with the wrong speed limit. I was in a 50 limit and I’ve been charged for being in a 40 limit.”
But the original charge was dropped at yesterday’s hearing, during which the speed he was actually travelling was revealed.
Alam pleaded guilty to a fresh charge of exceeding a temporary speed limit.
Warned
by the court he could face a ban due to the excessive speed, he said:
“I’d appeal to the court to avoid a disqualification if at all
possible.”
Magistrates added six penalty points to his licence, bringing the total up to nine.
He
was also fined £300 with £25 costs to be paid in 21 days. Alam, who
represented himself, was warned that three further points could result
in a driving ban.
After the hearing, he told the Gazette: “I
was dealt with as I’d expect anyone else to be dealt with. The officer
dealt with me professionally and it’s no more or less than anyone would
expect.” A Cleveland Police spokesman said: “The matter has been dealt
with appropriately by the courts.”
Alam became Cleveland
Police’s first Asian traffic officer when he joined the division in the
early 1990s. But he was sacked from the force and sent to prison for 18
months after being wrongfully convicted in 1997.
He served
half his sentence before a judge at the Court of Appeal dramatically
quashed the conviction. In March, Cleveland Police formerly apologised
to Alam and promised him 12 years’ back-pay, believed to be worth at
least £250,000.
By David Litterick in New York
Extradited British businessman Jeremy Crook was still in jail in San Diego last night, despite having been freed on bail by a federal judge. Mr Crook, who denies charges of conspiracy, securities fraud, wire fraud and bank fraud, was being held by immigration officials who accuse him of being a “deportable alien”. The businessman was last week escorted by US Marshalls from Heathrow to San Diego where he is accused of being involved in the collapse of software company Peregrine Systems.
In court on Friday, he pleaded not guilty to the charges against him and was bailed with a cash bond of $250,000. Judge Ruben Brooks also said Mr Crook should be electronically tagged and instructed him to remain in the San Diego area. The judge said that at the next pre-trial hearing, scheduled for next month, he may also consider lifting the restrictions to enable Mr Crook to return to the UK before his trial next April.
However, when his lawyer tried to pick him up later on Friday, he was told Mr Crook was being held by the immigration authorities at the Metropolitan Correctional Center, where he remained yesterday. It is unclear on what grounds Mr Crook, 56, was being detained. No-one from the San Diego Immigration Service was able to comment.
The NatWest Three, the former bankers extradicted on Enron-related charges earlier this year, are understood to have faced similar problems when they arrived in Houston after being extradited from the UK earlier this year. However, the controversy surrounding their case and the political pressure in the UK led to the personal intervention of US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Mr Crook’s lawyer, Steve Law, said he believed there were up to 50 further British businessmen who could potentially face extradition under the treaty.
A SPECIAL NOTICE ABOUT POLONIUM-210
With the recent news of Polonium-210 being used as a poison, a good deal of
incorrect information has been passed around (primarily by the media) concerning the Polonium isotope and radioactive materials in general. It’s important to get the facts correct. The general public is quite ignorant when it comes to knowledge about radioactive materials and radiation in general.
The amount of Polonium-210, as well as any of the isotopes we sell is an ‘exempt quantity’ amount. These quantities of radioactive material are not hazardous - this is why they are permitted by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to be sold to the general public without any sort of license.
Although we do sell these isotopes, distributors such as United Nuclear Scientific Supplies (and just about any isotope distributor) do not actually stock them.
All isotopes are made to order at an NRC licensed facility in Oak Ridge Tennessee. When the isotope is made, it is shipped directly to the customer from the manufacturer to insure the longest possible half-life.
The exempt quantity amount of Polonium-210, or any of the radioactive isotopes sold is so small that they are essentially invisible to the human eye.
In the case of needle sources, the radioactive material is electroplated on the inside of the eye of a needle.
You would need about 15,000 of our Polonium-210 needle sources
at a total cost of about $1 million - to have a toxic amount.
Polonium-210 and other toxic radioactive isotopes in your environment:
( yikes! radioactive materials are all around us )
Americium-241 is a similar toxic Alpha radiation emitter.
Instead of a half life of 138 days like Polonium-210 has, it has a half life of over 450 years. It is far more toxic - and there is 10 times more than the ‘exempt quantity’ amount in every smoke detector in your home.
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Another extremely common use for Polonium-210 is anti-static brushes found in almost all photographic shops. These brushes have a significant amount of Polonium-210 in them. A very popular Plonium-210 charged brush is called the “Staticmaster” (see image to left). |
Aside from weak Alpha radiation, products that contain much more penetrating Beta and Gamma radiation are also all around you. Common bright red/orange Fiestaware dinner plates and cups are made with a ceramic glaze that contains Uranium. These dinner plates and cups are almost 100 times more radioactive than the small ‘exempt’ radioactive isotopes we sell…
and remember, you EAT off of Fiestaware.
If you really wanted to poison someone, you would of course have to come up with a way to remove the invisible amount of material from the exempt sources - which is just about physically impossible and combine them together. Of course you would also need that 15,000 exempt sources.
In addition, there are dozens of other far more toxic materials, such as Ricin and Abrin, both of which can easily be made, and are also undetectable as a poison and untraceable.
Although it obviously works, Polonium-210 is a poor choice for a poison.
Another point to keep in mind is that an order for 15,000 sources would look a tad
suspicious, considering we sell about 1 or 2 sources every 3 months.
Make sure you are truly knowledgeable about a subject before you start
repeating and spreading potentially incorrect information related to it.
For those of you with a slightly warped sense of humor, we do sell a Polonium-210 coffee mug…
or Click Here to see our main menu of all products.
| Office of Information and Public Affairs | Washington, DC 20207 |
| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 20, 2007 Release #07-249 |
CPSC Hotline: (800) 638-2772 CPSC Media Contact: Scott Wolfson, (301) 504-7051 |
WASHINGTON, D.C. -In the aftermath of the Fourth of July holiday, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is announcing another success in its fireworks enforcement program aimed at reducing deaths and injuries to consumers from illegal fireworks.
At sentencing today, United Nuclear Scientific Supplies LLC, of Edgewood, N.M., founded and operated by Robert Lazar, was fined $7,500 and received three years probation. The firm violated federal law which prohibits the sale of chemicals and components used to make illegal fireworks.
“This court ruling is a victory for consumer safety,” said CPSC’s Acting Chairman Nancy Nord. “By shutting down the illegal operations of United Nuclear and securing a major court victory against Firefox Enterprises and its owners in May, CPSC is demonstrating our commitment to keeping illegal fireworks out of the marketplace and preventing serious injuries to consumers.”
U.S. Chief Magistrate Lorenzo F. Garcia of the District of New Mexico handed down the sentence after United Nuclear pled guilty to three criminal counts of introducing into interstate commerce and aiding and abetting the introduction into interstate commerce of banned hazardous substances. The firm sold the chemicals and components used to make illegal fireworks, such as M-80’s and quarter sticks, which are banned under the Federal Hazardous Substances Act and CPSC regulations.
United Nuclear, its principal, Robert Lazar, and accountant Joy White, also entered into a consent decree that permanently limits the amount of future sales of fireworks-related chemicals and prohibits the sale of any fuses, tubes and end caps. The decree also required destruction of the firm’s remaining inventory of components and specified chemicals.
The case was prosecuted by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Consumer Litigation and the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico.
—
Send the link for this page to a friend! The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risks of serious injury or death from more than 15,000 types of consumer products under the agency’s jurisdiction. Deaths, injuries and property damage from consumer product incidents cost the nation more than $800 billion annually. The CPSC is committed to protecting consumers and families from products that pose a fire, electrical, chemical, or mechanical hazard. The CPSC’s work to ensure the safety of consumer products - such as toys, cribs, power tools, cigarette lighters, and household chemicals - contributed significantly to the decline in the rate of deaths and injuries associated with consumer products over the past 30 years.
To report a dangerous product or a product-related injury, call CPSC’s hotline at (800) 638-2772 or CPSC’s teletypewriter at (800) 638-8270, or visit CPSC’s web site at www.cpsc.gov/talk.html. To join a CPSC email subscription list, please go to https://www.cpsc.gov/cpsclist.aspx. Consumers can obtain this release and recall information at CPSC’s Web site at www.cpsc.gov.
| Office of Information and Public Affairs | Washington, DC 20207 |
| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 20, 2007 Release #07-249 |
CPSC Hotline: (800) 638-2772 CPSC Media Contact: Scott Wolfson, (301) 504-7051 |
WASHINGTON, D.C. -In the aftermath of the Fourth of July holiday, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is announcing another success in its fireworks enforcement program aimed at reducing deaths and injuries to consumers from illegal fireworks.
At sentencing today, United Nuclear Scientific Supplies LLC, of Edgewood, N.M., founded and operated by Robert Lazar, was fined $7,500 and received three years probation. The firm violated federal law which prohibits the sale of chemicals and components used to make illegal fireworks.
“This court ruling is a victory for consumer safety,” said CPSC’s Acting Chairman Nancy Nord. “By shutting down the illegal operations of United Nuclear and securing a major court victory against Firefox Enterprises and its owners in May, CPSC is demonstrating our commitment to keeping illegal fireworks out of the marketplace and preventing serious injuries to consumers.”
U.S. Chief Magistrate Lorenzo F. Garcia of the District of New Mexico handed down the sentence after United Nuclear pled guilty to three criminal counts of introducing into interstate commerce and aiding and abetting the introduction into interstate commerce of banned hazardous substances. The firm sold the chemicals and components used to make illegal fireworks, such as M-80’s and quarter sticks, which are banned under the Federal Hazardous Substances Act and CPSC regulations.
United Nuclear, its principal, Robert Lazar, and accountant Joy White, also entered into a consent decree that permanently limits the amount of future sales of fireworks-related chemicals and prohibits the sale of any fuses, tubes and end caps. The decree also required destruction of the firm’s remaining inventory of components and specified chemicals.
The case was prosecuted by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Consumer Litigation and the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico.
—
Send the link for this page to a friend! The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risks of serious injury or death from more than 15,000 types of consumer products under the agency’s jurisdiction. Deaths, injuries and property damage from consumer product incidents cost the nation more than $800 billion annually. The CPSC is committed to protecting consumers and families from products that pose a fire, electrical, chemical, or mechanical hazard. The CPSC’s work to ensure the safety of consumer products - such as toys, cribs, power tools, cigarette lighters, and household chemicals - contributed significantly to the decline in the rate of deaths and injuries associated with consumer products over the past 30 years.
To report a dangerous product or a product-related injury, call CPSC’s hotline at (800) 638-2772 or CPSC’s teletypewriter at (800) 638-8270, or visit CPSC’s web site at www.cpsc.gov/talk.html. To join a CPSC email subscription list, please go to https://www.cpsc.gov/cpsclist.aspx. Consumers can obtain this release and recall information at CPSC’s Web site at www.cpsc.gov.
UK
Force faces 286 corruption claims
‘Zero tolerance’ officer Ray Mallon is being investigated
A total of 286 complaints are being investigated in a corruption probe against Cleveland Police.
Some 39 officers are under suspicion as part of the Operation Lancet probe, which began nearly a year ago.
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| Suspects have alleged “ritualistic” violence against them |
Eight officers have been suspended, including the former head of Middlesbrough CID. Detective Superintendent Ray Mallon, gained prominence as the architect of ‘zero tolerance’ policing policy on Teesside.
The Police Complaints Authority’s investigation includes allegations of serious assault and intimidation. These involve “almost ritualistic” violence against suspects to extract confessions, as well as minor procedural irregularities.
The inquiry began after a case collapsed at Teesside Crown Court last October when a defendant claimed that officers tried to bribe him with drugs.
There are 43 allegations concerning drugs in the investigation and the PCA has received 11 of these. A remaining 32 are expected over the next few weeks.
‘Hanging out to dry’
In May this year, former president of the Police Superintendents’ Association, Brian Mackenzie urged the PCA to conclude the inquiry as soon as possible.
He said Operation Lancet had lost its way.
He said: “What shouldn’t be happening, is that people like Ray Mallon, who are caught up in the original inquiry should be left hanging out to dry while the last minor inquiry is finalised.”
Supt Mallon, feted by politicians for his tough approach to crime, has strenuously denied any wrongdoing.
Although the allegations are apparently not related to ‘zero tolerance’ it is with this policy Supt Mallon will remain linked in many people’s minds.
‘Robocop’ style
When he was appointed in November 1996, he promised to quit if crime in the area had not gone down by 20% in 18 months.
His tough-cop style earned him the nickname ‘Robocop’.
Reductions in crimes against property in Middlesbrough increased national interest in zero tolerance.
Murder reduction
But Supt Mallon received adverse publicity when he had to suspend two CID officers who allegedly gave a suspect heroin in return for confessions.
Zero tolerance, or ‘positive policing’ as many prefer to call it, originated in New York. A large drop in the city’s murder rate was attributed to the strategy.
It attempts to tackle law-breaking from the bottom up by treating petty crime as seriously as other offences.
This philosophy behind it is known as the ‘broken windows’ theory because its proponents argue even minor vandalism leads to more serious crime.
