Sheriff Penzone Executive Advisory Review (SPEAR)

In-Depth Look At Tent City

In January 2017, Sheriff Penzone announced the Maricopa County Sheriffs Office (MCSO) 100 Day Plan for his new
administration. A key component was appointing the Sheriff Penzone Executive Advisory Review (SPEAR) Committee to
analyze selected programs and services to gauge their viability going forward. Three important factors were considered
in the programs that the committee will review at MCSO:

1. Whether they are essential to the core mission of MCSO.

2. Whether they are effective in achieving the mission.
3. Whether they are the best use of staffing and financial resources.

As a result, Sheriff Penzone selected a diverse group of community activists and business leaders to lead the charge in
reviewing MCSOs first program, Tent City.

The SPEAR Committee consists of former Arizona Attorney General Grant Woods as Chairman and SPEAR members,
LGBTQ community activist and Executive Director of OnenTen, Linda Elliot; Latino business leader, Victor Flores; Latino
activist and Director of Family Resources and Family Advocacy at CPLC, Lydia Guzman; Education activist and President
of Maricopa County NAACP, Dr. Ann Hart; Arizona public health expert, Will Humble; Dean and Professor at ASUs
College of Public Service and Community Solutions, Johnathan Koppell; Nationally recognized attorney from Phoenix
based law firm, Gallagher and Kennedy, Pat McGroder; Native American Youth Advocate and Executive Director of
UNITY, Mary Kim Titla; prominent East Valley lawyer, David Udall; Advertising and public relations expert, Lisa Urias;
Founder and Executive Chairman of Sunstate Equipment, Mike Watts; and Financial consultant and founding member of
Asian Corporate and Entrepreneur Leaders (ACEL), Jason Wong

Over the past 100 days, the SPEAR Committee met three (3) times for two (2) hours each and toured Tent City and the
Estrella facility. In addition, SPEAR met with nationwide jail experts and MCSO executive level administration and
custody staff to review substantial data over a 10-year period in regards to Tent Citys operating costs, classification of
inmates and detention staff figures. SPEAR, using this data gathered in its analysis, has presented its recommendations
to Sheriff Penzone as one element to be used in formulating his going forward course of action in regards to Tent City.

Based on this information, SPEAR recommended closure of the Tent City facility with the transfer of work furlough and
work release to a hard wall detention center.