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(More customer reviews)This is a good book.
Before going further, it is worth noting that Phoenix and Arizona have some of the highest crime rates in the nation. That's not what the Chamber of Commerce, tourism bureau and local newspaper will admit, but it's true. Do as I did, look at the FBI Uniform Crime Reports. I did after moving here in 1972, and often since then; the figures are consistent, this is one of the most crime plagued areas in the nation.
Talton writes a compelling story about crime in the Phoenix area, with a fictional sheriff as his hero. The real sheriff is a clown, courting constant publicity by forming chain gangs for prisoners, serving rotten food (he's proud of his green bologna), dressing inmates in pink underwear, narrowly evading imaginary plots on his life, housing inmates in tents in 120-degree weather, and costing the county millions of dollars in lawsuits filed in response to brutality by his deputies.
The sheriff's predecessors include a man who'd been married 10 or so times, and another who was formerly a lawnmower repairman. They weren't as "tough" as the current sheriff.
Although his central plot is fictional, Talton larded it with real incidents in the Phoenix area. When he cites to Mesa officers using their shift breaks to have sex with each other, such sex games really happened. When he writes about the local newspaper by saying one of it's stories "got things about half right" - - - it flatters his current bosses, since he can't afford to lose his day job yet.
Yet, based on my personal experience as a reporter covering trials and in the governor's office, Talton paints a devastatingly accurate picture of police corruption, indifference, arrogance and bullying. Time and again, his examples are based on actual events. For example, in my neighborhood police teamed up with local gang members who are willing to fight the Los Angeles-based Crips and Bloods.
Earlier, I mentioned high crime rates. It would probably be the highest rate in the nation except for one factor - - - the police refuse to take reports on crimes such as burglary and attempted auto theft. I've been burglarized half-a-dozen times, the recent police response is always, "Don't call us, your insurance company handles those complaints."
How bad is crime? Well, in the early 1980s, Sen. Barry Goldwater moved his office out of downtown Phoenix because the high crime rate made many people too afraid to visit it. Today, neither of Arizona's Senators, John McCain and Jon Kyl, have downtown Phoenix offices.
In police terms, and I learned this from the police many years ago, many local cops are "cash registers." It means an emphasis on writing tickets to produce revenue, not on preventing or solving crimes. It's why almost every new subdivision in Arizona is surrounded by walls, a desperate attempt by residents to protect themselves. In response, city officials want to impose new ordinances to limit the size of walls that people may build to protect their homes and families.
Talton portrays this ambiance of Phoenix with rare skill and cheeky verve. Such candor is never reflected in the local papers, which believe in "press release" journalism rather than showing initiative. I know the neighborhoods he writes about, and his book offers a chillingly authentic view of the wide open nature of Phoenix.
Camelback Falls underlines the reason why three out of five people who move to the Phoenix area leave within a year; the combination of high crime, police indifference and corruption, plus 100 days when the daily temperature is more than 100 degrees is enough to drive any rational person away.
Keep in mind, Talton writes about middle class neighborhoods. In the barrios, whole families - - father, mother, three killed - - have been killed execution style, but the police never make an arrest. Why? Few people, if any, trust the police. As for the police, they don't care; promotions are made on the basis of revenue-producing tickets.
Talton writes about the real Phoenix, not the tourist version. It's an easy four-hour read, well worth your time before visiting or moving to Phoenix. Read it, Talton paints a chilling picture of how local officials are letting a once beautiful city become a Third World ghetto.
Read it. If enough people read it and respond, perhaps something will be done. We'd appreciate any help outraged readers may offer. Thanks.
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