It was the system.

PHOENIX -- A scathing U.S. Justice Department report released Thursday found that Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s office carried out a blatant pattern of discrimination against Latinos and held a “systematic disregard” for the Constitution amid a series of immigration crackdowns that have turned the lawman into a prominent national political figure.

For more than two years, Sheriff Joe Arpaio has dispatched his deputies to arrest hundreds of illegal immigrants as he’s retooled his force into an immigration enforcement agency.

Three federal agencies are examining the Maricopa County sheriff's anti-illegal immigration enforcement effort to determine if deputies have followed civil rights and other regulations.

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is well accustomed to working under a spotlight — literally and figuratively. Constant scrutiny has also become commonplace at the sheriff’s office.

One Monday morning in December, the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office sent several of its most highly trained deputies to arrest day laborers.

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.

A Mesa man arrested this week on a felony charge of animal cruelty received multiple warnings over several months to feed and water his horse, according to neighbors and officials.

A class-action lawsuit alleging racial profiling is aimed at ending Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s much-publicized immigration sweeps.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio famously and frequently likes to remind people about his nearly unlimited scope and powers in Maricopa County.

As Arizona prison escapee John McCluskey and his accomplice, Casslyn Welch, remain on the loose, law enforcement agencies throughout the nation are delving into dozens of databases in search of clues that can lead to their capture.

Without debate, the Senate on Monday approved a far-reaching measure designed to give police more power - and more direction - to stop and arrest those who they believe are in the country illegally.

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio said Saturday he ordered his deputies to tape conversations with federal officials after a dispute over who called for the release of illegal immigrants arrested in a crime sweep.

Word spread quickly throughout the Valley on Tuesday: Sheriff Joe Arpaio's immigration sweeps are finally coming to Mesa.In a hand-delivered letter to city officials, the Maricopa County sheriff revealed he would bring his long-talked-about immigration sweeps to the city on Thursday.

The head of Scottsdale Community College’s music department has directed her professors not to speak with Maricopa County Sheriff’s detectives investigating enrollment fraud unless they have a court order.

The battle of wills between MCSO and MCSA remains largely where it began six months ago.

Maricopa County Sheriff’s deputies descended on the small town of Guadalupe on Thursday launching a new round of patrols aimed at curbing what the sheriff says are street crimes involving illegal immigrants.

Scottsdale made a deal with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office and the Arizona Department of Public Safety in January to ignore their own speed violations snapped by the city’s pilot Loop 101 photo enforcement system.

Scottsdale made a deal with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office and the Arizona Department of Public Safety in January to ignore their own speed violations snapped by the city’s pilot Loop 101 photo enforcement system.