MC Attorney Adel announces it’s a great time to be a criminal

The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office is led by Allister Adel, who oddly views herself as a social worker rather than a prosecutor charged with keeping our communities safe. 

On June 11, Adel announced her decision to dismiss all charges against the October 17, 2020 rioters who assaulted police, set fires, looted and destroyed property. Though admitting the crimes were captured on video, she bizarrely stated, “It is the decision of this office that it is in the interests of justice to not proceed. I want to be clear this decision does not mean that no crimes were committed. This decision in no way reflects negatively on the hard work law enforcement performed that night in preventing violence and property damage, and other crimes to keep our community safe.”

“The office” did not make this absurd decision. It was Allister Adel’s choice.

Last week via an email sent to office personnel, Adel announced she has disbanded the First Responders Bureau, which prosecuted cases involving acts of violence against police and firefighters, ostensibly due lack of resources. 

The fact is, the decision is based on her lack of determination to follow through with the duties required of the elected county attorney in the nation’s third largest prosecutor’s office, in a border state beset by rising criminality.

Violent protests against the police have not been isolated incidents and nationally efforts to defund the police have gained momentum resulting in law enforcement officers leaving and crime rates rising. Yet these criminals are the ones Maricopa County Attorney Adel thinks are worthy of having their charges dropped? Rioters do not respond to weakness. It emboldens them.

Frequently out of the office seeking treatment for alcoholism, anxiety and eating disorders in California and Arizona rehab facilities, she is neither physically, emotionally or professionally capable performing the duties of the job she holds.

It’s past time for Maricopa County Attorney Allister Adel to resign.