An independent monitor and a community advisory board will be supervising the operations of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's deputies after a federal judge appointed them to ensure that Arpaio's office does not continue to racially profile in its immigration sweeps. US District Judge Murray Snow found in May that Arpaio and his deputies in Arizona's most populous county could not target "particular communities, locations or geographic areas for targeted traffic enforcement based to any degree on the racial or ethnic composition of the community" and prohibited them from using race as a factor in whether or not to pull over vehicles to check if the occupants were in the country legally.
According to the Arizona Republic, in a ruling issued on Wednesday, the judge mapped out a series of supervisory measures with which the sheriff's office must comply for three consecutive years before the monitors can go off duty. In addition to the community advisory board and the monitor, the judge also mandated that cameras and audio equipment be installed in deputies' cars and data collection and reporting increased. Deputies will be required to notify dispatchers of why they are making a traffic stop before they make contact with the vehicle's driver "unless exigent circumstances make it unsafe or unpracticable". If the office is found to be noncompliant, Arpaio and other sheriff's officials could be found in contempt of federal court or see similar court-ordered oversight - and their associated expenses - extended for years.
The Associated Press reported that Arpaio's office had been "vehemently" opposing the appointment of such a monitor, saying that each of his policy decisions would have to be approved by the observer, effectively nullifying his authority. "I have received a copy of the court order and I am in the process of discussing it with our attorneys," Arpaio said in a statement. "We are identifying areas that are ripe for appeal. To be clear, the appointed monitor will have no veto authority over my duties or operations. " The sheriff's lawyer, Tim Casey, told the AP he was so far pleased with the "very moderate sensible tone" of the 59-page court order. "The sheriff is still in exclusive charge of the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office," he said, adding that the monitor's role would deal with overseeing training and procedures.
The judge's ruling in May, which came after five Hispanic drivers filed a lawsuit against the office with the help of the ACLU, did not prohibit Arpaio's deputies from carrying out immigration-related operations. But it did prohibit them from detaining individuals without more than a reasonable belief that they were in the country illegally - officers, said the judge, had to suspect that those individuals were violating human-trafficking and employment laws or committing other, more specific crimes. "The evidence demonstrates that the [Maricopa County Sheriff's Office] specifically equated being a Hispanic or Mexican (as opposed to Caucasian or African-American) day labourer with being an unauthorized alien," Judge Snow wrote in the 142-page decision.
RELATED: Joe Arpaio Racially Profiled Latinos, Says Judge; Arpaio Says He'll Appeal
© 2024 Latin Times. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
