Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio says the fact that Tent City, his canvas incarceration compound, has now “served” or housed over 500,000 inmates since its 1993 opening, is a real reason to celebrate.
last Wednesday, April 1, 2015, and under a sign hung on the Tent City fence proudly proclaiming “Over 500,000 served” (time), inmates and the Sheriff will enjoy a veggie burger as the second of two meals a day here at 3:30PM. The veggie burgers are consistent with the all vegetarian menu the Sheriff implemented months ago.
“Half a million men and women have experienced incarceration at Tent City,” Sheriff Arpaio says. “That’s a remarkable number considering many critics thought Tent City wouldn’t last. In fact, Tent City as a jail has lasted longer than brick and mortar facilities like the Madison Street Jail.”
One of the first moves Sheriff Joe Arpaio did after assuming office in 1993 was to starting planning and building a tent city for convicted inmates. At the time, jails were overcrowded and law enforcement agencies were talking about releasing inmates early to make more room. Arpaio’s idea of a new kind of jail came to fruition on a very hot August 2, 1993 when Tent City first opened its doors to house up to 500 male inmates. Tent City not only cost millions less to construct, it also helped to alleviate overcrowding problems. At the time Tent City opened in 1993, construction for a hard facility to house these inmates was estimated to cost between $41 to $50 million dollars.
Since then, female inmates and juveniles came to be housed here as well. Throughout all the years and with so many inmates, Tent City has had few serious incidents. Perhaps most notable occurred in 1996 when a short lived riot involving hundreds of inmates resulted in a fire on the yard and minor injuries to staff and a few inmates.
Each and every year, detention officials from jails throughout the United States have visited Tent City and spoken at length with the Sheriff and his staff about how to build and operate such a jail.
“Reaching over 500,000 Tent City inmates is a real milestone,” says Arpaio, “and one that I am particularly proud to have started. As long as I am Sheriff, Tent City will remain open and operational and able to house plenty more convicted inmates.”
Visitors and Famous Inmates:
Over the years, four Presidential candidates have toured Tent City with Sheriff Arpaio seeing first-hand this innovative and less costly housing alternative that so many were talking about.
Tent City has also housed a good number of celebrity inmates over the years for their various infractions of the law.
And, because of its uniqueness, Tent City has been the subject of innumerable news stories by crews from hundreds of different countries. It was the location for four hour long segments of HBO’s Bill Maher Show and Britain’s ITV Show “Brits Behind Bars.”