PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio's anti-illegal immigration patrols took center stage Thursday in federal court as a group of Latinos set out to prove that his deputies racially profiled them as part of a systemic policy of discrimination.
A lawyer for the plaintiffs who filed a civil lawsuit against Arpaio's department said in opening statements that the evidence will show that Arpaio and his deputies discriminated against Hispanics.
"It's our view that the problem starts at the top," attorney Stan Young said.
Tim Casey, who is defending Arpaio, said the patrols were properly planned out and executed. He said they exceeded police standards. "Race and ethnicity had nothing to do with the traffic stops," Case said.
Arpaio has said people pulled over were approached because deputies had probable cause to believe they had committed crimes and that officers only learned afterward that many were illegal immigrants.
The plaintiffs aren't seeking money damages. They want a declaration that Arpaio's office racially profiles and an order that requires the department to make changes to prevent what they said is discriminatory policing.
The lawsuit will serve as a precursor to a U.S. Justice Department's case that alleges a broader range of civil rights violations by Arpaio's office. A DOJ lawyer leading the agency's civil rights case watched the trial. Arpaio was not expected in court Thursday.
For years, Arpaio, the self-proclaimed toughest sheriff in America, has vehemently denied allegations that his deputies in Arizona's most populous county racially profile Latinos in his trademark patrols.
The plaintiffs say deputies based some traffic stops on the race of Hispanics who were in vehicles, had no probable cause to pull them over and made the stops so they could ask about their immigration status.
David Vasquez, an IT specialist from Mesa who identified himself as a Mexican American, said he and his wife were pulled over during a June 2009 sweep as the couple was headed to dinner. One of the deputies who stopped them asked Vasquez whether he spoke English, which he does.
"I just found it funny that he asked me that question because I felt like I had been singled out. I've never been asked that question," Vasquez said. He said he was following the speed limit and hadn't broken any traffic laws.
Five or 10 minutes after being pulled over, a deputy said he pulled Vasquez over because he had a crack in his windshield, which Vasquez testified wasn't blocking his view of the road.
The officer didn't write him a ticket. Vasquez now questions how the officer was able to spot the crack in the windshield given his position at an intersection.
After the officers let him go, Vasquez said it occurred to him that he was just racially profiled and told his wife: "I believe I was pulled over for being brown."
Under questioning from an Arpaio attorney, Vasquez said he didn't report the traffic stop to authorities and was contacted months later by Arpaio critics who had video-recorded the stop.
The lawsuit echoes some of the racial profiling accusations in the DOJ case. That suit said Arpaio's office retaliated against its critics, punished Latino jail inmates with limited English skills for speaking Spanish and failed to adequately investigate a large number of sex-crimes cases. No trial date in that case has been set.
Arizona State University law professor Carissa Byrne Hessick said that if Arpaio loses the current case, the verdict would likely stand as the finding on whether Arpaio's office racially profiles.
The sheriff likely wouldn't be able to re-litigate the profiling allegations in the DOJ case. Still, Arpaio could dispute the other allegations, Hessick said. If Arpaio wins, the DOJ wouldn't be prevented from bringing its racial profiling allegations to trial.
The judge overseeing that case might be inclined to rule against the federal agency on the racial profiling claim because there would be a fellow judge who concluded that the facts don't support it.
Arpaio has said the DOJ lawsuit is a politically motivated attack by the Obama administration as a way to court Latino voters in a presidential election year. DOJ officials say the department began its initial civil rights inquiry of Arpaio's office during the Bush administration and notified the sheriff of its formal investigation a few months after Obama took office.
Arpaio has staked his reputation on immigration enforcement and, in turn, won support and financial contributors from people across the country who helped him build a $4 million campaign war chest.
The patrols have brought allegations that Arpaio himself ordered some of them not based on reports of crime but letters from Arizonans who complained about dark-skinned people loitering or speaking Spanish.
The plaintiffs' attorneys say they plan to do prove that Arpaio's office had a policy that was intentionally discriminatory, in part, by focusing on their allegation that Arpaio launched some patrols based on racially charged citizen complaints.
Some of the people who filed the lawsuit were stopped by deputies in regular patrols, while others were stopped in his special immigration sweeps.
During the sweeps, deputies flood an area of a city — in some cases, heavily Latino areas — over several days to seek out traffic violators and arrest other offenders.
Illegal immigrants accounted for 57 percent of the 1,500 people arrested in the 20 sweeps conducted by his office since January 2008, according to figures provided by Arpaio's office. The department hasn't conducted any of the special patrols since October.
one of the last posted at 9:26 am on Thu, Jul 19, 2012.
"sweeps." Was not what Sheriff Joe calls the They are Immigration Sweeps at least they where until Nov. What Changed?
Illegal immigrants accounted for 57 percent of the 1,500 people arrested And Latino Americans Accounted for the rest.
hillstreet posted at 9:35 am on Thu, Jul 19, 2012.
Let's get this senile old fool out of here once and for all.
Helltown posted at 9:52 am on Thu, Jul 19, 2012.
I think they should convict him and send him to tent city so he can be treated worse then you would treat a street rat!!! Food not suitable for any human or animal, summer tents with temps in the 137 degree range and my goodness all that pink!!!
pawzza posted at 9:53 am on Thu, Jul 19, 2012.
When the majority of people in AZ are latino then the majority are likely to be caught committing violations. A handful of latinos claim they were racially profiled. It should be thousands if it were true. Most of the sweeps took place in businesses that were breaking the law by hiring illegals, but that's okay right? You both have no clue the problems AZ faces. Regarding getting rid of Arpaio, never going to happen when people are sending him millions of dollars from everywhere in the country to help him be reelected. I only wish more of AZ law enforcement would do their job and not just one sheriff.
pawzza posted at 10:13 am on Thu, Jul 19, 2012.
Helltown, so you think that criminals deserve better standards than our military soldiers? Maybe you should be sending the rest of your paycheck to your local prison to ensure these people live to your standards.
Arizona Willie posted at 11:08 am on Thu, Jul 19, 2012.
All they have is some invading aliens who didn't like getting caught and want to play the race card and accuse Joe of profiling.
All they have is accusations. No proof at all.
But, this being a witchunt, evidence and proof will prove to be immaterial.
Doan need no steeken proofs.
chatmandu002 posted at 11:29 am on Thu, Jul 19, 2012.
Go Sheriff Joe, enforce all the laws all the time.
sdjtaz posted at 1:50 pm on Thu, Jul 19, 2012.
Chatmandu,
Agreed, Sheriff Joe should enforce the laws. Laws like sexual assault, child molestation, and other sex crimes, such as the ones in El Mirage that his office failed to investigate or enforce. Please spare me the standard defense of Arpaio that every police department has unsolved cases. In these cases, Arpaio and his office failed to even investigate the cases. Why? Because he pulled staff away from the Sex Crimes Unit to add them to his unit investigated the alleged (but never proven) corruption in the County Government and court system. The funny part of this is that the only "corrupt" individuals that he investigated were the ones that opposed him.
BTW, tax fraud, counterfitting US currency, death threats against the President, etc... are also laws. Do you think that Arpaio should spend his time investigating these or should they, like immigration, continue to be a function of the Federal Government?
I guess that we need to change your post to "Go Sheriff Joe, enforce only the laws that will get your name in the newspaper and make all the sheeple continue to bleat your name with great honor".
Leon Ceniceros posted at 2:10 pm on Thu, Jul 19, 2012.
Even the...........ASSOCIATED PRESS....has gotten into the one-side, left wing liberal "yellow journalism" game.
Notice how the vast, vast majority of quotes and remarks are anti-Sheriff Joe......"IT'S OUR VIEW THAT THE PROBLEM STARTS AT THE TOP".
OH, AND LOOK AT SHERIFF JOE'S.............."UGLY PHOTO".....I THOUGHT THAT THIS WAS ONLY A ...."YELLOW JOURNALISM" TACTIC USED BY OUR LOCAL NEWSPAPERS AND TV STATIONS.
AND DON'T YOU JUST LOVE THE REMARK ABOUT THE MARICOPA COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFFICE ........."NOT INVESTIGATING THE LARGE NUMBER OF SEX-CRIMES".
HELLO............HAS THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE LOOKED AT THE...................MESA POLICE DEPARTMENT'S STATISTICS ???
RAPE CRIMES IN THE CITY OF MESA; 2002 = 129, 2003 = 116, 2004 = 124, 2005 = 194, 2006 = 203, 20007 = 175, 2008 = 161, 2008 = 161, 2009 = 123 AND THE LAST YEAR REPORTED, 2010 = 124........TOTAL FOR THE ABOVE 9 YEARS IS A WHOPPING....................1478 RAPE CRIMES IN THE CITY OF MESA.
I HAVE ASKED A CERTAIN......"MASTER" RETIRED MESA POLICE OFFICER...HOW MANY OF THESE ......ALMOST...1500 RAPES HAVE BEEN SOLVED AND THE RAPISTS CAUGHT, BEEN TO COURT AND JUDGED GUILTY OR INNOCENT................BUT THE SADLY, THERE HAS BEEN NO REPLY.
MAYBE, I HAVE BEEN GOING ABOUT THIS THE WRONG WAY BY STARTING AT THE BOTTOM WHEN I SHOULD HAVE BEEN, AS THIS ARTICLE STATES......GOING TO THE TOP....OBAMA'S ATTORNEY GENERAL ERIC 'FAST AND FURIOUS" HOLDER.
sdjtaz posted at 2:54 pm on Thu, Jul 19, 2012.
Leon,
Thank you for once again being the Vent's equivalent of an old man yelling "Get off my lawn". First, the picture of Joe Arpaio looks like every other picture I've seen of him. Second, you only call it "Yellow Journalism" because you disagree with what it says.
While I'm not a "Master" retired police officer, I can tell you that those 1478 rapes that you mention were investigated. In doing so, the Mesa Police Department would have taken the victim statement, using a rape kit when applicable, interviewed witnesses, attempted to identify and arrest suspects, and all of the other aspects that good police agencies across the US perform during a normal course of an investigation. Many, but not all, of these cases have been solved. In many cases, there may not have evidence to arrest a suspect, no suspect could be addressed, or a suspect may have left the area, making it impossible to make any arrest.
Now comes the part that you may have difficulty understanding (based on your past incoherent posting). In the case of the sex cases in El Mirage, the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office took an initial report. However, due to the Sheriff's cuts to the Sex Crimes unit, they failed to do any follow up, no rape kits, no witness interviews, no attempt what so ever to find a suspect.
Hopefully, you can understand the difference between investigating a crime and not being able to arrest a suspect (like most police agencies) and not investigating a crime in the first place (like MCSO). But then again, we are talking about Leon here. BTW, notice that I was able to make my point without constantly using my caps key. I suggest that you try it sometime. It may make you look a little more sane.
hillstreet posted at 5:13 pm on Thu, Jul 19, 2012.
"A handful of latinos claim they were racially profiled"
Spoken like a true Caucasian. It is very easy to be detached from reality of being harrassed based on the color of your skin when you are White. Mexican haters don't have a problem when it is only brown people getting pulled over. Let it be them getting pulled over for no reason and see how high they squeal about their rights. Hypocrites.
samkat posted at 5:30 pm on Thu, Jul 19, 2012.
Hillstreet: You are showing your true colors and you claim to have been a LEO. What the heck did you even do during your career? I unabashedly oppose illegal immigration as do the majority of Arizonans and Americans.
Ateam1 posted at 6:40 pm on Thu, Jul 19, 2012.
Ever tried driving while WHITE in MEXICO? SHUT UP YOU FREEKING IDIOTS!!!. You came here because you don't like your fatherland,NOW you are profiling!!!!!!
littlenorma posted at 7:37 am on Fri, Jul 20, 2012.
The officer was justified in pulling the vehicle over. If you have a crack in the windshield, a tail light or head light out, loud muffler are all legal reasons to be pulled over. If you don't want to be pulled over, make sure everything on your vehicle is in proper working order and fixed! Don't we all feel profiled any time any of us are pulled over. My brother was always harassed by our city police for the type of vehicle he drove, one day my mom was driving the car and got pulled over. They saw it wasn't my brother and walked away...talk about profiling! But did we file a federal law suit over it?! Right now the caucasians are the minorities...we should be screaming profiling and racism. But we don't.
The only time a person feels they are being profiled is if they are doing something wrong or illegal. If you aren't guilty of anything it shouldn't be a problem to show your drivers license like everyone has to do when pulled over, heaven forbid, and as for the officer asking if you speak English, I think that is a courtesy thing since you live in a highly spanish speaking community. I'm sure he wanted to speak in a language you could understand.
Thank God for "profiling" that's what keeps us all safe! The lawsuit filers would be crying if a member of their family was raped, killed or robbed because the police did not stop someone who fit the "profile" of a particular criminal. So stop whining! Obviously you were feeling guilty about doing something wrong if you are whining!!
KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK SHERIFF JOE & DEPARTMENT!
sdjtaz posted at 8:41 am on Fri, Jul 20, 2012.
littlenorma, you have been drinking from the Kool-aid well one too many times. First, regarding your statement that the officer was right to pull the individuals over. This would be true if they did it across the board for all races. However, the evidence shows that this were not the case. A hispanic was six to seven times more likely to be pulled over and ticketed by the MSCO than any other race. This shows that the Sheriff's office was targeting one specific race, Hispanics. These same tactics were used during the 1960's in the deep South. The attempt was to harrass and intimidate blacks. It was wrong then, and it is wrong now.
With regard to profiling, it keeps no one safe. It is simply the lazy way of avoiding doing the job. If Arpaio really wanted to keep us safe, he would do his job. Instead, he is much more interested in keeping his name in the paper. A perfect example of this was shown in El Mirage (which I posted about earlier). He moved staff away from the Sex Crimes unit, into a unit that was investigating "alleged" criminal behavior by the courts and the Board of Supervisors (who opposed his policies). The obvious question that we have to ask is "Since El Mirage is only the tip of the iceberg, how many other sex crimes went without investigation under Arpaio's watch?" Somehow I don't equate ignoring sex crimes to be keeping us safe.
You seem to think that selective law enforcement, failure to investigate crimes, spending taxpayer's dollars badly (his recent expense to send an investigator to Hawaii is just one example), massive lawsuits (most of which, the good Sheriff has lost due to his incompetence), and mismanagement to be good work.
I call it for what it is: incompetence, cronyism, and poor police work.
Engaged Voter posted at 12:44 pm on Mon, Jul 23, 2012.
"Spoken like a true Caucasian."
Notice the only commenter using racial slurs and insults against the elderly is hillstreet, who has already identified himself as an Arizona Law Enforement Officer.
When our vaunted law enforcement scoffs at apprehending dangerous felons, and openly admits they pick which laws to enforce and which laws to completely ignore, what are we law-abiding, taxpaying American citizens to do?