Sparks fly at meeting over Arpaio sweeps

Maricopa County's top elected officials traded allegations of treason and racism with dozens of community activists protesting Sheriff Joe Arpaio's illegal immigration enforcement Wednesday.

The county Board of Supervisors planned to focus on mundane administrative tasks during its monthly meeting.

But the Maricopa Citizens for Safety and Accountability altered the board's agenda.

The activists used time set aside for public comment to demonstrate against MCSO, as it did during the supervisors' meetings in June and July. The group's hundreds of members accuse the sheriff's office of violating civil rights while searching out illegal immigrants.

"People see this happening in their communities. People know friends and neighbors who have been unjustly profiled, who have (been) stopped for either a taillight or something else, and detained," said Randy Parraz, co-founder of the activist group.

This time, several of the sheriff's top administrators also used public comment time to answer the group's accusations - and to unleash a few accusations of their own against the activists and local news media.

In July, the Tribune published the findings of a six-month investigation that detailed how the sheriff's office often neglected regular law enforcement work during its hurried evolution into an illegal immigration enforcement operation over the past two years. Emergency response times slowed and arrest rates plunged.

Most of the county residents in attendance Wednesday came to denounce the sheriff.

However, about six Arpaio supporters repeatedly addressed the supervisors to defend the lawman.

Anna Gaines, an Arpaio supporter, went so far as to suggest that Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox is betraying her country by opposing the sheriff's enforcement tactics targeting illegal immigrants.

"This is seditious work," said Gaines, chair of American Citizens United.

She is a leader in the effort to recall Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon over his feud with Arpaio, which is also over illegal immigration.

Supervisor Andy Kunasek, an Arpaio supporter, rebuked Gaines for the allegation.

"The charge of sedition ... it's way out of bounds," said Kunasek, whose district includes north Phoenix and Paradise Valley.

Despite that, Kunasek clashed with the activists throughout the meeting. He argued to shorten how much time each of the group's members could speak. On multiple occasions, the activists' microphones were turned off early.

Seven of the sheriff's administrators - including the chiefs in charge of its jails, finances and public affairs - accused the Tribune of publishing misinformation about the sheriff's office, but provided virtually no specific errors. And MCSO Capt. Joel Fox made an inaccurate statement about the agency's emergency response times.

The Tribune investigation found deputies' arrived at the most serious 911 calls far more slowly, up to 16 minutes on average in one instance, after MCSO shifted resources to target illegal immigrants.

Fox told supervisors the 16-minute average came before the sheriff's immigration operations.

However, the MCSO's own data on response times, which the Tribune obtained through a public records request, show Fox's statement is erroneous.

In District 2, the largest patrol district that runs from south Phoenix to Gila Bend, deputies took 16 minutes on average to arrive at life-threatening emergencies during the first three months of 2007, the data show. That period was 10 months after the sheriff's office began immigration enforcement operations.

MCSO's response time standard for such calls is 5 minutes. Emergency responses in that district averaged almost 12 minutes per call in March 2006, the month deputies made their first illegal immigrant bust.

When a Tribune reporter attempted to ask Fox about the discrepancy at the meeting, Lisa Allen, MCSO media relations director, intervened and said Fox declined to comment. "No, you can call us for an appointment," Allen said as she and Fox left the building.