Every once in a while, a particular industry experiences a vast change. This change normally comes at the hands of a revolutionary, someone who shocks the world with the changes that they bring — someone who is special.

Personal technology had Bill Gates, steel mills had Andrew Carnegie and now law enforcement has Joe Arpaio.

Arpaio, a 75-year-old, first-generation American has been the sheriff of Maricopa County, Ariz. since 1993. He has been dubbed "America's Toughest Sheriff" because of the numerous changes he has made to the prison system.

Arpaio has a firm belief that incarceration is a punishment. Prisoners are in jail for committing crimes, and thus it should not be an enjoyable place, which means he has eliminated luxuries such as smoking, porn magazines and weight rooms from the prison facilities.

"This isn't the Ritz-Carlton. If you don't like it, then don't come back," is the sheriff's reply to inmate complaints, according to urban legend.

But most of the measures put into place by Arpaio are done so with the intent of saving the taxpayers money. As of 2007 he has dropped the cost of meals to 30 cents per day. Just by getting rid of salt and pepper he was able to save the taxpayers more than $20,000 per year.

At the time the sheriff took office, there was an over crowding issue — not surprising since Maricopa County is the largest in the United States. Instead of building a new $70 million prison, he created "Tent City" to house the inmates. Tent City is exactly what it sounds like — a bunch of tents erected in the middle of a tightly secured outdoor section of the prison.

When the prisoners complained about their living facilities being in the 110-degree desert sun, Arpaio responded, "It's 120 degrees in Iraq, and the soldiers are living in tents there, too. But they have to wear full battle gear, and they didn't commit any crimes, so shut your mouths," according to The Associated Press.

Arpaio has also reintroduced the chain gang. This allows the prisoners to go out and do free public work projects for the county and cities. Not wanting to be discriminatory, he has extended this program to include females as well.

Although the outerwear for the prisoners is a very traditional black and white jumpsuit (to make them easy to identify), all other garments, sheets and towels are a bright pink. This is because of the psychological calming effect of pink.

Because they have become so popular, the sheriff's office now sells them to the public as a fundraiser, complete with the printed tags "Maricopa County Sheriff's Office" and "Go Joe!"

The sheriff's most recent accomplishments include taking over the county animal shelters. By having the inmates operate the shelters he has reduced the cost from $18 million to only $3 million. Also, since illegal immigration is illegal, he has made it known that officers will arrest offenders.

But Arpaio also believes it is important to educate the inmates. He has instated a mandatory two-week course in English for non-English speakers. Also, all television programming is educational and G-rated.

Although the sheriff's main job is punishing the bad guys, he also takes it upon himself to ensure that there are programs to help the good people. Summer programs and anti-drug courses have been created for kids. There is even a program that provides free cell phones for domestic abuse victims so they can call for help whenever they are in need.

Not since Wyatt Earp has there been a lawman quite like Arpaio. He simply does exactly what a sheriff should do — help the right, punish the wrong and keep costs as low as possible. The result is that he has been re-elected by the voters to four consecutive terms, with an approval rating as high as 85 percent.

Now that the success of both Arpaio and the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office has become so well-known, the rest of the country is starting to follow suit. Even criminals like O.J. Simpson and Barry Bonds, who are incredibly guilty, yet somehow have remained unpunished, are starting to feel the force of justice upon them.

Maybe in the not-too-distant future we can finally nab the granddaddy of them all and put Michael Jackson behind bars. But I won't get my hopes up yet, since Neverland Ranch is unfortunately in California rather than Arizona.

Thank you, Sheriff Arpaio, for not being afraid to take charge and make the criminal justice system into what it should be. Consider this my official nomination of Joe Arpaio for the presidential race.

[Reach columnist Jeff Dickson at opinion@thedaily.washington.edu.]