Sydney Greene

The Republic | azcentral.com

As the sun set over Tent City, Maricopa County Sheriff's Office buses rumbled around a corner and squealed to a halt at the entrance.

The door of one opened as the dust swirled. Feet hit the ground, followed by a trill of giggles and chatter.

A parade of children and teenagers emerged, each wearing a striped, awkwardly baggy jail-issue jumpsuit.

These kids, ages 9 to 18, are participants in a two-day program, Camp Summer Stars, hosted by Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, with an overnight stay in Tent City.

The words “summer camp” and “Tent City” might not seem like a perfect match, but the Sheriff's Office pitches the program as a way to encourage Arizona youth to stay out of trouble as children and into their adult lives.

Participants stayed Thursday night in a designated area away from inmates. The goal: teaching them about life at the notorious Tent City and how to avoid ending up there down the road.

On Thursday, about 60 participants attended classes about drug and alcohol prevention and got a taste of jail food. The consensus, they said? It's gross.

Jane Sanders, Bernie's wife, debates Arpaio about Tent City

The kids were split up by boys and girls as they entered into the jail, single file. Arpaio greeted the girls first, who seemed a lot more giggly than a typical inmate might.

A guard attempted to command the girls' attention and ordered them to stand in single file and enter the camp, quietly. As the girls entered the camp, the boys came off the other bus, quieter than girls.

As soon as they spotted Arpaio, a series of questions were shouted:

“What if one of us hops the fence?” one boy asked, looking around at the guard towers.

“There is no talking,” a guard shouts. “Walk single file, in a straight line.”

As the section of Tent City filled up with campers, kids filled up their water bottles and fought over the Port-a-Potties before settling into a large tent, with a large fan roaring over their voices.

Arpaio approached the front of the room and was met with questions about his age, and he offered the lucky guesser a pocket picture of himself.

The sheriff wasted no time giving his speech to the kids, warning them first and foremost to stay out of trouble.

“Stay away from drugs,” he said. “Make sure you don’t listen to ... kids who may tell you to do something bad. You don’t do that. Do what your parents want you to do. Obey your teachers.”

Arpaio told the camper to appreciate the experience, but also take what they learned in classes and in their night at the tents back to their friends. Let them know what life is really like when you get in trouble, he said.

“I hope you tell all the kids you know that you lived in the tents and tell them how awful it is," Arpaio said. "Tell them you hate the tents. Tell them you’ll never do anything wrong if you don’t wanna go in those tents."

After Arpaio's speech, he opened the floor for questions. Two hot topics remained on the minds of the kids: the quality of the food and the uncomfortable jail suits.

“What do you want, pajamas?” Arpaio said. “You're in jail. You’re not taking those stripes off.”

The program combines two other sheriff's programs, T.O.U.G.H. Tents and S.T.A.R.S. Both are designed to help prevent adolescent involvement in drugs, tobacco, alcohol, violence and gangs. T.O.U.G.H. Tents also involves bunking in a simulated tent jail.

The sheriff said his hope was that the kids would learn from their experience at Tent City and stay out of trouble.

"This is a new program — it's a test program. We hope to keep it going," Arpaio said.

A similar July 21-22 camp session is planned. For information, call 602-876-1685.