Sheriff Babeu Telling More Tall Tales

I've highlighted the false claims of Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu before.  He continues with his dubious claims as highlighted in this Arizona Republic article.  His claim is as follows,

Pinal County is "the No. 1 pass-through county in all of America for drug and human trafficking."

He also dished out this gem on Fox News, 

the sheriff told host Greta Van Susteren he's facing "one of the highest crime rates in America" and crime is "literally off the charts in Arizona."

But, the statistics dispute this,

An analysis of U.S. Census data and Department of Public Safety records shows 11 of Arizona's 15 counties have crime rates higher than Pinal County's. Residents of Maricopa County are victimized nearly twice as frequently as their neighbors to the south.

Pinal County records show violent crime plummeting over the past few years in every major category except homicides, where numbers are too small for statistical significance. Aggravated assaults in Pinal County decreased 29 percent since 2007. Armed robberies are down 41 percent. Border Patrol records indicate that illegal-immigrant apprehensions in Pinal County have declined every year since 2008.

With all of these  statistics, you would think Babeu would be claiming victory in the decreases in crime in his county instead of talking up how bad things are.

Here is another interesting statement,

"If this administration was truly committed to securing the border, they would have already implemented the . . . 10-Point Border Security Plan" advocated by Republican Sens. John McCain and Jon Kyl of Arizona. That proposal calls for more National Guard units, fences and other deterrents.

Why was he not screaming this during the Bush Administration.  Afterall, that is where the emphasis on controlling the borders over terror started.  Also, it was at Bush's insistence that the Mexican government get stronger on the drug cartels.  Since then, nearly 40,000 Mexicans have been killed.  No wonder they are fleeing for the border.  However, it is a Republican rule that you can not criticize Bush for anything that started in his administration.

Babeu has aligned himself very strongly with Senators Kyl and McCain.  It would not surprise me to see him run for Kyl's Senate seat with Kyl's backing.  The quickest path to an election victory for a Republican is fear, and Babeu has been learning that tactic very well over the last couple of years.