Sheriff Joe.... is a scumbag.

[Crapshoot]

Sheriff’s Arpaio’s Office Targeted Latinos, U.S. Says - NYTimes.com (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/16/us/arizona-sheriffs-office-unfairly-targeted-latinos-justice-department-says.html)

Some notable excerpts:

After an investigation that lasted more than three years, the civil rights division of the Justice Department said in a 22-page report that the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, which Mr. Arpaio leads, had “a pervasive culture of discriminatory bias against Latinos” that “reaches the highest levels of the agency.” The department interfered with the inquiry, the government said, prompting a lawsuit that eventually led Sheriff Arpaio and his deputies to cooperate.

and

The inquiry’s findings paint a picture of a department staffed by poorly trained deputies who target Latino drivers on the roadways and detain innocent Latinos in the community in their searches for illegal immigrants. The mistreatment, the government said, extends to the jails the department oversees, where Latino inmates who do not speak English are mistreated.

and


The report said Latino drivers were four to nine times more likely to be stopped in the sprawling county, which includes Phoenix and its environs, than non-Latino drivers. The expert who conducted the study called it the most egregious racial profiling he had ever seen in this country, said Mr. Perez, the prosecutor, without naming the expert.

The report said that roughly one-fifth of the traffic-related incident reports generated by the department’s human smuggling unit contained information indicating the stops may have been conducted in violation of the Fourth Amendment’s prohibition on unreasonable seizures.

You don't have to be an immigration liberal to think this dude is scum. Hell, if I were an immigration hawk, I'd be pissed, because he's held up as a symbol bearer for the audience.

[RainMaker]

Refusing to investigate hundreds of sexual assault cases because of skin color is disgusting too. Sort of throws that whole tough on crime thing out the window.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I couldn't help but lol at the last bit of "evidence" against him, about the ratio of stops. That says nothing about the ratio of various ethnic groups providing perfectly legitimate reason/probable cause to make a stop & without that the ratio of stops is completely meaningless.

Then again, afaic, by any means necessary.

[lcjjdnh]

I couldn't help but lol at the last bit of "evidence" against him, about the ratio of stops. That says nothing about the ratio of various ethnic groups providing perfectly legitimate reason/probable cause to make a stop & without that the ratio of stops is completely meaningless.

Then again, afaic, by any means necessary.

Since I know how deeply you care about civil rights, I'm sure you just missed this while scouring the report:

First, MCSO deputies target Latino drivers. A statistical analysis ofMCSO's traffic stops made since the initiation of MCSO's immigration enforcement program-which is dominated by the use of pretextual stops-shows that MCSO's enforcement practices have a discriminatory impact on Latino drivers. We had a leading expert on measuring racial profiling through statistical analysis examine MCSO traffic stops. The expert found that Latino drivers were between four to nine times more likely to be stopped than similarly situated non-Latino drivers. Overall, the expert concluded that this case involves the most egregious racial profiling in the United States that he has ever personally seen in the course of his work, observed in litigation, or reviewed in professional literature.


When we reviewed all of the traffic-related incident reports generated by HSU from March 2006 to March 2009, we found that roughly 20% of the reports contained information indicating that the stops, almost all of which involved Latino drivers, were conducted without reasonable suspicion or probable cause.

Brilliant crime enforcement strategy:

Seventh, we note that MCSO's prioritization of immigration enforcement may have compromised its ability to secure the safety and security of Maricopa County residents. Since MCSO shifted its focus toward combating illegal immigration, violent crime rates in the county have increased significantly as compared to similarly situated jurisdictions. From 2004 to the end of2007, reported violent crimes grew by over 69 percent, including a 166 percent increase in homicides over the three-year period. Since 2008, violent crime rates have remained at roughly the same level in Maricopa County, while dropping by over 10 percent in similarly situated jurisdictions.


I'm also sure you applied this same level of scrutiny when providing you expert analysis of why Troy Davis needed to die. Correlation doesn't equal causation, but I'm noticing a trend in your opinions on matters of criminal justice.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Since I know how deeply you care about civil rights, I'm sure you just missed this while scouring the report

You're waaaaay overestimating how big a shit I gave about some hatchet job on the guy. I commented strictly on what was posted here, no more & no less.

Then again, if the current J. Dept told me it was raining, I'd go outside to check. And if water happened to appear to be falling from the sky, I'd check the roof for someone with a garden hose.

Considering the source, this isn't worth the paper it was printed on.

[BYU 14]

As someone who lives here I am not always a big fan of Arpaio, whose thought process seems to be more and more tainted by his desire to get publicity as the years go on. He has done some good things in Maricopa county and some bad (being over the top on this issue is one of them)

That said, HB 2162 places so much of a focus on this issue, that even if an officer is not conciously profiling they are bound to pay more attention to Latino drivers than other races. This could easily inflate the numbers of unfounded stops. HB 2162 has only been in effect for roughly a year and a half though, so it you can't place blame solely on it.

This along with the botched sex crime cases mean some turbulent seas are in store for Arpaio and rightfully so. He gets to caught up in the end result ALOT and makes mistakes on the path to get there. I am all for cracking down more on illegal immigration, but not as haphazardly as Arpaio is doing it.

But part me wonders how much the Justice Department is going to extreme measures to big things up here because of HB 2162 in the first place? How hypocritical of them to come in as a beacon of virtue when they have done jack shit to in the areas of border security. Not to mention the federal sting that resulted in one of many weapons allowed to cross the border and into the hands of drug cartels, was used in the murder of a border enforcement agent last year.

It will be interesting to see how this shakes out in the end. Arpaio does need to be held accountable for some reckless law enforcement, but the JD can go fuck themselves for their holier than thou attitude as it pertains to this issue.

[lcjjdnh]

That said, HB 2162 places so much of a focus on this issue, that even if an officer is not conciously profiling they are bound to pay more attention to Latino drivers than other races. This could easily inflate the numbers of unfounded stops. HB 2162 has only been in effect for roughly a year and a half though, so it you can't place blame solely on it.

...

But part me wonders how much the Justice Department is going to extreme measures to big things up here because of HB 2162 in the first place?

The investigation began in June 2008--long before HB 2162 was passed. Best I can tell, the data set involved only car stops from before it was passed, too.

[BYU 14]

The investigation began in June 2008--long before HB 2162 was passed. Best I can tell, the data set involved only car stops from before it was passed, too.

Yeah, that is why I made a reference to the timeline and I don't know for sure if there was any data included after SB 2162 was passed or not.

You still have to wonder though if SB 2162 that might have spurred them to twist the blade a little bit more. Definitely not defending Sheriff Joe here, but the JD are not a bunch of saints either.