Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio seems to court controversy with everything he does, which is why it's not surprising that his new "jail simulation" summer camp for teenagers is raising some eyebrows.
Local Arizona news station ABC 15 is reporting that the controversial sheriff is offering a special program called "Summer Stars" this year that will be a two-day camp aimed at showing youngsters the miseries that await them if they commit crimes and wind up in prison.
"The campers will follow jail regulations, wear inmate clothing, work as an inmate laborer, eat jail food, sleep in jail tents/bunks, and attend education programs," reads a news release on Summer Stars.
"Kids will learn some valuable lessons," said Arpaio in a prepared statement cited by ABC 15. "They will have some fun too."
It will be interesting to see whether Arpaio implements a profiling regime in this summer camp by putting the wealthy white kids in a country-club wing of the jail while relegating the black and Latino kids to the filthiest, most decrepit section of the prison. It will also be interesting to see if Arpaio gives the kids a stern lecture on the dangers of bestiality, which seems to be his newest public crusade.