Byline: Sandy Mckenzie
The toughest lawman in the West has been told by Middlesbrough's Mayor, Ray Mallon, that Britain's prisons are not a big enough deterrent to crime.
Joe Arpiao is the sheriff of Maricopa County in Arizona where he introduced Tent City for prisoners.
The inmates live under canvas in temperatures of 140AF and are issued with pink underwear to stop thefts of the clothing by prisoners.
The prison spends 15 cents a day on food for each inmate. Watching television is severely restricted and there is no coffee, cigarettes, movies and pornographic magazines.
The sheriff has also set up a website showing the details of the 300 people arrested each day in his area.
During his meeting yesterday with Mr Mallon, Sheriff Arpiao revealed that as a policeman in Las Vegas in the 1950s he stopped Elvis Presley for speeding on a motorcycle.
"I Pandora Necklace Charm took him to the police station, but he talked me out of giving him a ticket," said Sheriff Arpiona.
A range of criminal justice issues was discussed by the two men during a two-hour meeting in Middlesbrough Town Hall.
Mr Mallon told the sheriff he believed in punishment, deterrent, rehabilitation and diversion.
But he said prisons in the UK could be like five-star hotels and did not provide a deterrent.
"I am not saying we should go back to the old days of four prisoners in one cell, but it seems that punishment has become a dirty word.
"You must have punishment to have a deterrent. I want prisons to be a punishment with appropriate sentences to provide a deterrent and then you will see crime reduce further," said Mr Mallon.
He said prisoners should enjoy basic rights, such as a clean bed in a clean cell.
But he wanted to see lights out in prisons at 10pm, no television and restrictions on access to a telephone and other activities.
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"I know that some prisoners have been in tears when released from prison because they were leaving prison and their friends," said the Mayor.
Sheriff Arpaio said: "I think the mayor is on the right track. More people have to listen to him."
He said in his area there had been a 25pc fall in crime.
"There are more people in jail now and they are staying there for longer - that is why crime is going down," he said.
Sheriff Arpaio said: "I will predict that in ten years British bobbies will have guns. They should be carrying guns."
But Mr Mallon said he believed it was not necessary.
Police armed response vehicles could quickly attend any armed incident and routinely arming the police would not reduce the murder rate as far as gun crime was concerned.
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