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When most people look at Tent City, the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office’s infamous outdoor detention facility, they see a jail.
Not Sheriff Joe Arpaio — he, apparently, sees a stage…for a reality TV show.
Yet again, Arpaio has opened the MCSO’s doors to reality TV film crews — this time for a show on Discovery called First Week In, which documents jail inmates adapting to life behind bars.
It would only be kinda humiliating — if the inaugural episode didn’t depict how race-gangs are basically running the show and dishing out their own brand of jailhouse justice, that is. But it does, as you can see in a clip after the jump.
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Sadly, this isn’t Arpaio’s first stab at reality TV — lest we forget Police Women of Maricopa County, the MCSO’s babe-cop docu-drama, where female deputies provided “ass-beatings” for county residents from Tonopah to Tempe. Read all about Sheriff Joe’s Angels here.
Then there’s Arpaio’s infatuation with Steven Seagal and his tough-guy crime show, Steven Seagal Lawman.
And, of course, Smile You’re Under Arrest, Lockup Extended Stay: Maricopa County Jail, and several of Arpaio’s other ventures into the world of reality television.
Running against Arpaio in this year’s race for sheriff is Scottsdale Lieutenant Mike Stauffer, who’s assured New Times he plans to put an end to the “reality show sheriff’s office.” More on that here.
