Cops appeal to Arpaio about closed booking sites

Police chiefs from six cities are appealing to Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio after recent closures of booking operations at satellite jails.

The chiefs from Surprise, El Mirage, Glendale, Peoria, Youngtown and Wickenburg are asking Arpaio to reconsider his closure of the Bell and Dysart Jail in Surprise, which is used to book crime suspects.

The holding facility was one of three booking stations closed last week as a cost-saving measure by the Sheriff's Office. The others were the Avondale Jail and the Southeast Jail in Mesa.

With these closures, all 26 police agencies in the Phoenix metropolitan area will have to book people at the Fourth Avenue Jail in Phoenix .

Surprise Police Chief Daniel Hughes said his officers previously traveled about a mile to book suspects, but now a round-trip ride downtown could take almost two hours. And that's not factoring in the time it takes to wait for someone to get booked.

The closures hurt small agencies even more, said El Mirage Police Chief Michael Frazier, who needs at least four to six officers on the street.

The police chiefs came up with two possible solutions if the letter produces no results — utilize the Glendale Police Department's booking facility or establish a rotating arrangement among agencies, where a different city will take the reins each day.