Post by gemmala116 on Dec 4, 2012 23:50:18 GMT -5
It is often human nature to follow the crowd as opposed to standing up for what we know to be righteous and true. It is all too easy for individuals to turn a blind eye to the dishonest practices taking place around them for fear of jeopardizing their own place within a community. Sheriff Joe Arpaio of the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office’s (MCSO) reelection is a prime example of the corruption that can occur when civilians fail to actively stop corruption from taking place. It is now clearly known in fact, that while serving in office Arpaio and his staff at the MCSO improperly cleared a possible 75% of cases without thorough investigation or arrests. This type of blatant disregard for law practices that has occurred and is occurring under Arpaio’s reign demonstrates the fraudulence that can occur when people in superior positions, such as Arpaio and his deputies, choose to forgo the veracity of a system in favor of preserving a tyranny of consensus that allows them to thrive.
In ignoring the inadequateness of the investigations of 400 sex crimes examined under Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s leadership between 2005 and 2007, the MCSO employees promoted the consensus by protecting its main catalyst. Arpaio and his team at the MCSO contributed police service for El Mirage, Arizona when they reportedly failed to follow-through on at least 32 documented child molestations, despite the evidence provided to them. A 13 year old rape victim was investigated by one of Arpaio’s detectives who, instead of obtaining a blood sample from the alleged rapist, or making an arrest, filed a crime lab note and proceeded to close the case for four years. The lack of report or work conducted on this case was largely known by Arpaio’s staff, but fearing that their thoroughness would come into question if anyone knew the truth, the staff neglected to fully disclose the nature of the investigation. This dishonesty was reported to Internal Affairs by one of Sheriff Arpaio’s inferiors in 2008, but no investigation findings have been released nor has Arpaio faced any charges. However, the majority of the staff neglected their civil responsibility to report this injustice because they did not want to jeopardize their position within the county office by shaming its leader. Furthermore, employees did not want to disgrace the MCSO, so deputies blamed the carelessness on a high case load and staffing shortages. This consensus is essentially fueled by a fear of losing a position inside of it if Arpaio was ever reprimanded for his unethical law practices. Just as Mary Warren gave into the tyranny for her own self preservation by substantiating Abigail’s lies despite her knowledge of the fraud, the deputies put their job security and the preservation of their sheriff’s image as a disciplined man ahead of the sex crime victims’ need for social justice and reprimanding of their abusers. Both cases show what happens when individuals choose to ignore the knowledge they have of evil practices occurring in their immediate environment, and instead choose to support this tyranny of consensus ultimately harming blameless people with their ignorance.
Shockingly, Sheriff Joe Arpaio has been elected to serve his sixth four-year term just a few weeks ago in the midst of a federal investigation on his county office. This just goes to show that the men and women working for Mr. Arpaio are not the only ones choosing ignorance over justice.
Word Count: 559
Works Consulted:
"Joe Arpaio." The New York Times Online. The New York Times Co., 8 Nov. 2012. Web. 1 Dec. 2012. <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/
people/a/joseph_m_arpaio/index.html?8qa>.
In ignoring the inadequateness of the investigations of 400 sex crimes examined under Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s leadership between 2005 and 2007, the MCSO employees promoted the consensus by protecting its main catalyst. Arpaio and his team at the MCSO contributed police service for El Mirage, Arizona when they reportedly failed to follow-through on at least 32 documented child molestations, despite the evidence provided to them. A 13 year old rape victim was investigated by one of Arpaio’s detectives who, instead of obtaining a blood sample from the alleged rapist, or making an arrest, filed a crime lab note and proceeded to close the case for four years. The lack of report or work conducted on this case was largely known by Arpaio’s staff, but fearing that their thoroughness would come into question if anyone knew the truth, the staff neglected to fully disclose the nature of the investigation. This dishonesty was reported to Internal Affairs by one of Sheriff Arpaio’s inferiors in 2008, but no investigation findings have been released nor has Arpaio faced any charges. However, the majority of the staff neglected their civil responsibility to report this injustice because they did not want to jeopardize their position within the county office by shaming its leader. Furthermore, employees did not want to disgrace the MCSO, so deputies blamed the carelessness on a high case load and staffing shortages. This consensus is essentially fueled by a fear of losing a position inside of it if Arpaio was ever reprimanded for his unethical law practices. Just as Mary Warren gave into the tyranny for her own self preservation by substantiating Abigail’s lies despite her knowledge of the fraud, the deputies put their job security and the preservation of their sheriff’s image as a disciplined man ahead of the sex crime victims’ need for social justice and reprimanding of their abusers. Both cases show what happens when individuals choose to ignore the knowledge they have of evil practices occurring in their immediate environment, and instead choose to support this tyranny of consensus ultimately harming blameless people with their ignorance.
Shockingly, Sheriff Joe Arpaio has been elected to serve his sixth four-year term just a few weeks ago in the midst of a federal investigation on his county office. This just goes to show that the men and women working for Mr. Arpaio are not the only ones choosing ignorance over justice.
Word Count: 559
Works Consulted:
"Joe Arpaio." The New York Times Online. The New York Times Co., 8 Nov. 2012. Web. 1 Dec. 2012. <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/
people/a/joseph_m_arpaio/index.html?8qa>.