Nearly 3,000 armed volunteers will be patrolling outside of roughly 60 Arizona schools after Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio gave them the go-ahead this week.
Arpaio, who has come under fire for his controversial immigration policies in Maricopa County, has been public with his new plan to protect roughly 50 schools in the Phoenix area by arming thousands of volunteers as part of a posse to secure the area around schools.
The plan was created by Arpaio after the Newtown, Conn., elementary school shooting that took the lives of nearly 20 children and several teachers and school staff, in addition to another plot uncovered recently by a 16-year-old girl from Mesa, Ariz., who posted threats on YouTube that she wanted to kill fellow classmates at Red Mountain High School.
While that school will not be monitored, Arpaio stands by his plan as a way to protect schools in his jurisdiction.
"We owe it to the community to do whatever we can to offset the fear many parents, teachers and administrators are experiencing as a result of the school shootings our nation has endured," Arpaio told ABC/Univision in a statement.
However, not everyone is a fan of the idea.
As Salvador Reza, a Phoenix-area organizer for community groups known as Barrio Defense Committees notes, because of Arpaio's previously authorized raids on Latino neighborhoods and workplaces, this new armed posse could cause school attendance to drop and cause worry to some students with undocumented parents afraid that they could be deported.
"Arpaio is seen by children as 'El Cucuy'-the Boogey Man," told The Daily Beast. "He's seen as an oppressor, a violator of human rights, a divider of families."
In response, Arpaio's office sent a statement defending the posse program, adding that the new posse wasn't trying to cater to his supporters, but is to serve "a local need" and the sheriff isn't "out to get" members of the local Latino community.
However, in the past, members of similar posses created by Arpaio have allegedly comprised of past criminal offenders. CBS's Arizona affiliate last year reported that certain members of Arpaio's posse had been arrested for crimes such as domestic violence, drug possession, and disorderly conduct, among other charges.
The application to join the posse states applicants may be disqualified if their records indicate a felony conviction or illegal drug use.
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