Sheriff Joe Arpaio institutes cost-saving, vegetarian meals for inmates

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio dons a chef's uniform to promote a vegetarian diet for inmates. (Fox10)Get sent to jail in Arizona’s Maricopa County and you’ll be experiencing some serious life changes. And for those who eat meat, that includes going vegetarian.

County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is no stranger to controversy. Over the years, he has made seemingly countless numbers of national headlines. As recently as August, the five-time elected sheriff was in the news after announcing that his deputies would be required to carry firearms at all times, even while off duty.

Arpaio’s latest move is a plan to transition all of his inmates in the county’s eight jails to a vegetarian diet. On the surface, it might sound like a health-conscious move from the 81-year-old lawman. But Arpaio said the change is all about saving the county money.

As part of an effort to publicize the move, Arpaio donned a chef's uniform during a local TV appearance.

“Little by little, this is the first step to go vegetarian,” he told Phoenix affiliate Fox 10. “There will be no more meat on the menu, we’ll save $100,000.”

Instead, the jails will serve soy. In the interview with Fox, Arpaio showed how one stew-like dish will be prepared using the soy along with a combination of carrots, peas and other vegetables.

“It looks great. It looks like stew,” Arpaio said while laughing. “I’m getting hungry.”

Of course, reporter Troy Hayden was less convinced, telling Arpaio that the soy looked like "wood chips" and pointing out that some of the carrots used were brown.

"Oh, that's probably just dirt, don't worry about that," Arpaio responded.

And even though meat is being taken off the menu, Arpaio says one Maricopa County policy he famously instituted will remain constant: The inmates will still be charged for their meals.

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Inmate’s daring jailbreak caught on camera

An inmate in an Arkansas jail executed a daring escape that was captured on film by a pair of security cameras.

KARK 4 News reports that Derrick Estell, 33, who was arrested in March on charges of armed robbery and car theft, managed to slip from custody when he climbed through an open window inside Garland County Jail in Hot Springs, Ark.

In the dramatic footage, Estell crawls through a window and then races out through the front of the jail while a group of onlookers watch. He was using the cover of speaking on the telephone when he suddenly lunged through the open window.

An officer quickly follows him through the window, but Estell jumps into a waiting getaway car in the jail parking lot.

A second security camera outside the jail shows Estell racing through the parking lot with the officer trailing behind him.

A statement from the Garland County Sheriff’s Office said Estell should be considered "armed, dangerous and extremely aggressive."

"Due to his violent history and the fact that he has always been located with weapons, we have to assume that this time will be no different," Lt. James Martin told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

Estell allegedly used fellow inmate William Harding to distract two officers while Estell makes his escape.

The getaway car was found abandoned in a parking lot shortly after the escape. Harding has since been arrested for allegedly helping Estell escape, but Estell and his getaway driver, who police say is Tamara Upshaw, remain at large.

Arkansas police say they have launched a manhunt to find Estell, who at the time of his arrest was being charged with 26 offenses.

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Inmates posting reviews of prisons on Yelp

Inmates move between cell blocks at San Quentin State Prison. (Yelp)“Not recommended.” When it comes to a firsthand prison review, do you really need to know anything other than that?

Believe it or not, that was the actual review from a Yelp user named “Ticha B.,” who reviewed California’s San Quentin State Prison. And for the record, she gave it only one star.

And as it turns out, Ticha is far from alone. The Washington Post has written a story about the phenomenon of prison reviews showing up on Yelp, which lets users review any business, destination, or even prison, with a standard address.

“I think the reviews are actually helpful for bail bondsmen, attorneys, family members—a lot of people, actually,” attorney Robert Miller told the Post. In fact, Miller has written several reviews himself, though with the distinct advantage of being on the outside of a prison cell.

The Post notes that inmates have reviewed six prisons in the Washington, D.C., metro area.

Across the country, not many of the nation’s “worst prisons” have received formal reviews for the site. For example, you won’t have any luck finding a detailed description of the services offered at the nation’s only supermax facility, ADX Florence, in Colorado. ADX is home to some of the nation’s most dangerous convicted felons, including the Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski.

Interesting, there appears to be a scarcity of reviews for what are considered some of the nation’s luxury prisons.

However, San Quentin does not suffer from a lack of attention, with 35 reviews at the time of this blog entry's publishing.

The reviews come from a variety of individuals, some who have taken tours of the facility and some who claim to have spent time behind its bars. Overall, the site receives an average of 2.5 stars out of five.

"This is not a place you wanna end up,” writes Yelp user Scott D (2 stars), who says he spent four days in San Quentin when he was a teenager as part of California’s “Scared Straight” program. “Not all big bad & scary like the movies make it, but cold, damp and miserable with really sh***y food.”

Of course, there is no way to verify if these reviews come from actual inmates or just Yelp users with way too much time on their hands. For its part, Yelp refused to comment on the article.

Arlington County Sheriff Beth Arthur said she was suspicious of some of the Washington, D.C., area reviews. In particular, one reviewer praised the availability of juice boxes at one facility, which Arthur said is factually inaccurate.

“I thought, ‘Wait a minute, I don’t understand what she’s talking about,’ ” Arthur told the Post. “I almost thought she meant the old facility, but this one has been here 20 years.”

However, there’s a potential upside to these reviews as well. For example, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office says it regularly reviews allegations of abuse posted to the site.

“Every allegation we get, we investigate,” Stephen Whitmore, spokesman for Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca, told the Post. “But this Yelp phenomenon I find curious,” Whitmore said. “Jail isn’t a restaurant. It isn’t seeing a movie. You’re doing time for committing a crime.”

“It helps elevate consciousness of the problems and brings transparency and oversight to a system that isn’t used to being transparent,” Miller added. “That’s a very valuable tool.”

Though as Baca noted, it’s very strange to see the occasional positive review for a detention facility.

Dylan D. gave a 3-star review of San Quentin, writing, in part, “I heard that the kitchen used local farms and put great thought in to their seasonally changing menu and the service was not exactly friendly but 'efficient.'”

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