Note: There are very few that speak the truth on what Consent Decrees are doing to our communities but Bob Scales is not one of them. Mr. Scales has intimate knowledge, after working with the DOJ, what consent decrees are actually about and we have found encouragement from him. He often speaks about the issue on social media and this is one of his recent posts. It happens to discuss the Phoenix area and we believe it is important for you to see. Why aren’t more speaking up including those within the Phoenix Police Department? We are working on a piece that will discuss that but we find encouragement in those that do speak.
If you want to hear about the dangers of federal oversight of local law enforcement, just listen to the press conference from the Maricopa County Sheriff this week. The Sheriff is not seeking reelection due to the onerous conditions and costs imposed by the federal judge and his for-profit monitor.
Here are some excerpts from the Sheriff’s statements:
⚫ “The federal court oversight is more concerned about internal punishment than it is about external public safety and that hurts the people of this community.”
⚫ “When I have more people investigating internal affairs and compliance issues than I do crimes in our community, something is wrong.”
⚫ “I’ll be damned if I’ll do three terms under federal oversight for a debt I never incurred and not be given a chance to serve this community in a manner that I could if you take the other hand from being tied from behind my back.”
The for-profit monitor is based in North Carolina and has not been to Arizona since January 2000, but he is still charging the County $200,000 a month for his services. The County is also paying $100,000 a year for office space for the monitor that he does not use. The county has spent nearly a quarter billion dollars on federal oversight with no end in sight. The monitor has refused to comment on the Sheriff’s press conference.
Sheriff Penzone is a Democrat and defeated the former Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Federal oversight was put into place due to the problems with Arpaio’s office. Sheriff Penzone has solved those problems, but federal oversight persists because the judge and monitor do not ever want it to end.
These problems are not unique to Maricopa County. Every city that has fallen under a DOJ consent decree has suffered as taxpayer money is siphoned from essential programs to pay for federal monitors and the federal judges take control of police leadership and management. Louisville and Minneapolis are the latest cities to fall under federal control and Phoenix is next in line. Unless and until a city is willing to stand up to the DOJ and say no to a consent decree, we will continue to see our communities descend into anarchy as local law enforcement withers away under federal oversight.
