Fully two years into his term, Sheriff Paul Penzone continues to uncover damage from the Arpaio years.
29 fully automatic weapons
20 short barreled shotguns
1 short barreled rifle
That is what is now considered missing and unaccounted for from Arpaio’s tenure and the count is only likely to go higher as the audit remains underway. Most of these weapons that were seized from defendants or crime scenes and later confiscated by the MCSO. Many of these weapons were issued to officers with simple paper sign in sheets. Many of these weapons were not properly stored in an armory. My personal bet is that many of these weapons were quietly “adopted” by Arpaio’s deputies or his various stooges around the department.
When your out chasing birth certificates or conducting pogroms against “undesirables” or simply out continuously fundraising, that just doesn’t leave much ******* time to run your department competently.
Arpaio sure left Sheriff Penzone with the Herculean task of cleaning up his train wreck, a task that will likely take many years and may extend to Penzone’s successor at some point.
