What kind of criminals are in tent city

Despite being equipped with evaporative coolers, the ASP Tent City remains oppressively hot in the summer with 20 prisoners crowded into each tent. The prisoners complain of insect and vermin infestations, and water intrusion. Kendrick also encountered a prisoner with serious mental illness being housed in a tent. Further, many symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat stroke are similar to the behavior displayed by the mentally ill — including irritability, anxiety and confusion.

In , Arizona state prisoner Marcia Powell was locked in an outdoor cage on a degree day. Arpaio touts that it's the cheapest among jails in the country, but bad food was one of the complaints that led to a inmate riot in the facility in In Tent City, however, the most obvious point of contention is that inmates are subjected to extraordinarily high temperatures. For example, the inside of the tents reached degrees during one heatwave in July , leading the sheriff to give those incarcerated a chance to strip down to their pink underwear.

More recently, inmates got ice cream and icy towels to combat soaring temperatures. But Arpaio doesn't think the roasting weather is unfair to those in his jails, and he's often cited what military personnel need to endure. The facility is a jail. Most of the people held there are awaiting trial, or people serving short sentences, typically less than a year. According to Maricopa officials , "dangerous or predatory individuals are not placed there. Most people there are low-level criminals, or not yet convicted.

Under the law, jails should not be punitive, but Tent City clearly comes across that way. If you were arrested for DUI or any criminal offense, you should consult a criminal defense attorney before pleading guilty. They will discuss your matter and defense options with you. If retained they will defend your charges, and make sure your constitutional rights are protected. There are defenses you may not be aware of that can lead to a favorable resolution in your case.

Presidential candidates visited it and it made international headlines, with media crews visiting from Japan and England. Tourists and the public were invited too. Many Republicans turned against him during the campaign season as he became involved in a series of costly lawsuits. Most recently and damningly, a federal judge in July found the former sheriff guilty of disobeying a order to stop detaining immigrants during traffic patrols whom he suspected of being in the country illegally, even though they had not committed any crimes.

Grant Woods, a former Republican attorney general who headed a committee appointed by Penzone to review the facility, said there was no proof that Tent City has helped prevent recidivism, as Arpaio boasted. The perception that it was tough on crime was a myth, he said. At the time of writing, there are still around men and women held in one compound of Tent City.

Local civil rights groups are concerned about their health with the extreme heat advisories of the Arizona summer. They will remain there until October as part of a special programme that allows them to leave the tents to work during the day. The sheriffs office has said they will be found appropriate housing in the autumn. On a recent visit in July, an empty tower guarded a set of courtyards covered in gravel with a patchwork of cement slabs where some of the tents used to stand.

Arpaio was due to be sentenced on 5 October and faced up to six months in prison for wilfully violating a federal court order.