Yes indeedy. Costs the County around $8m a year to run Tent City. By shutting it down, the savings are approximately $4.5m. That money will probably go toward hiring more guards and jail improvements. What a lot of listeners learned today is Tent City inmates were given a choice of staying inside, or enjoying the balmy weather. Many chose to stay outside as they were not confined to a small indoor cell. Not quite the harsh punishment the ex Toughest Sheriff claimed.
Just a Got-Dang minute here. I was IN Tent City, ten years ago. It Was Miserable. It was a cold winter, and raining, and you are out in the sand and mud. In the tent there is no wind-break, and the sleety rain and very high bitter wind came right in to you. You are NOT given extra blankets. The blankets are worthless: remember those brown, scratchy non-absorbent paper towels that came out of public school bathroom dispensers? well, they are the blanket equivalent of those- absolutely useless- some prisoners became ill, and there are elderly persons in the Tents. The prisoners are almost exclusively DUIs, as I was (fyi I did not hit anyone with a car, and I was merely over the limit)
I was frankly shocked at some of the persons who Arpaio had no qualms of placing there: women like my mother or grandmother, as in people who absolutely do not belong there. You can NOT use the toilet when you want, it is only on scheduled times which are few and very far apart. One woman got in "Trouble" for having an emergency urination outdoors, in the sand, far from the tents. You can not get any drink or water, ANY thing what so ever unless it is one of those scheduled times, and you can only get a very expensive juice? or small drink from a machine IF you have change, and there is no change machine. No phone, no nothing- no tampons, no toilet paper, no soap, nothing- there is more I could add but I won't to save you from a wall of text and verbiage. It was really terrible and a person can become physically ill, and a young girl that was in my Tent did in fact, and had a very embarrassing diarrhea accident from the bad food (sounds funny, but it wasn't for her or for us who witnessed it) she was mortified and was a pretty young slip of a thing. I did not eat of the food yet I was there only for a week end. I know the food was spoiled, and all of the prisoners whispered about it. The oranges that were handed out came from a box that read in large letters NOT FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION/AGRICULTURAL PRODUCT ONLY something to that effect, as in for pig feed or livestock feed or fertilizer, but not for us to eat (the only way for it to be that is if they were not inspected/or possibly contaminated) the food isn't supposed to be good, but at least should be consumable. Some older and people in bad health need bathroom access, or at least water to drink intermittently, and they could not have access for long lengths of time. You may laugh, and say they deserve it, but I spoke to many persons, and one woman, very well bred and rather nice, was in there for DUI and never drank a drop. She had taken a prescribed Xanax, and was resting in her own driveway in her car while listening to some radio program, while in her pajamas. Some neighbor called re: "suspicious person" in the area, the police found no one but her in her car with the overhead lamp on, reading and listening to talk radio. She was given a Field Sobriety and failed! She had a zero alcohol on the breatho meter, but the PD says one not need have been drinking, only showing "influence" She protested that she was not driving nor planned to, as it was obvious she was in her pajamas and in her drive way- no matter, the police stated she "had her car keys on her person" etc etc. Another one, younger lady, at a party, got belligerent and party host called PD. This girl was not going to drive, the police got her for DUI as she had "car keys in her purse" they call it "access to a vehicle" while one is drunk. I've heard "doozies" from crooks as my father being a prosecutor and I spending many days in court with him, these were not made up tales, as I was a fellow Jailee and not one they need tell tales to.
I could state my opinion on this system, and who benefit$ but it will fall under the "political arguments" that is not allowed here, nor is it apropo. What I am trying to say is, the Tents WERE NO PICNIC.
