The Department of Justice filed a civil
lawsuit in federal court today against Maricopa County, the Maricopa County
Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) and Sheriff Joseph M. Arpaio, arising from
unconstitutional and unlawful actions by the defendants.
The lawsuit follows a comprehensive and
independent investigation initiated, in June 2008, under Section 14141 of the
Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 and Title VI of the Civil
Rights Act of 1964. On Dec. 15, 2011,
the department issued a 22 page letter of findings, which found reasonable
cause that MCSO and Sheriff Arpaio were engaged in a pattern or practice of
unconstitutional conduct and/or violations of federal law. Following the issuance of the letter of
findings, the department attempted to reach a resolution with MCSO and Sheriff
Arpaio and provided them with a comprehensive draft settlement agreement. The proposed agreement contained a number of
key reforms that had been successfully implemented elsewhere. However, negotiations were unsuccessful,
primarily because MCSO and Sheriff Arpaio refused to agree to any independent
oversight by a monitor.
The complaint alleges that Maricopa County,
MCSO and Sheriff Arpaio engaged in and continue to engage in a pattern or
practice of:
·
Discriminatory and otherwise unconstitutional law enforcement actions against
Latinos who are frequently stopped, detained and arrested on the basis of race,
color, or national origin;
·
Discriminatory jail practices against Latino inmates with limited English
skills; and
·
Illegal retaliation against their perceived critics, subjecting them to
baseless criminal actions, unfounded civil lawsuits, or meritless
administrative actions.
According to the complaint, since approximately
2006, MCSO and Sheriff Arpaio have intentionally and systematically
discriminated against Latinos. They
have accomplished this by stopping Latinos in their vehicles four to nine times
more often than similarly situated non-Latino drivers. In addition, MCSO stops Latinos on the
county’s roads without the required legal justification. Also, MCSO detains and searches Latinos on
the roads, in their homes, and in their workplaces without legal justification
for doing so. Further, MCSO mistreats
Latino detainees with limited English proficiency by ignoring important
requests if they are not made in English and punishing detainees if they fail
to understand orders given in English.
Finally, MCSO files baseless administrative actions, civil actions and
criminal cases against its perceived critics in an attempt to chill free
speech.
The conduct of MCSO dramatically departs from
standard law enforcement practices in numerous ways. As described in the complaint, “MCSO
promotes and is indifferent to the discriminatory conduct of its law
enforcement officers, as is demonstrated by inadequate policies, ineffective
training, virtually non-existent accountability measures, poor supervision,
scant data collection mechanisms, distorted enforcement prioritization [and] an
ineffective complaint and disciplinary system.”
Additionally, the complaint alleges that the
conduct is the product of a culture of disregard for Latinos that starts at the
top and pervades the organization. MCSO
employees frequently use derogatory terms to refer to Latinos, and Sheriff
Arpaio and MCSO supervisors, through their words and actions, set the tone and
create a culture of bias that contributes to unlawful actions.
In the complaint, the department seeks declaratory
and injunctive relief that would ensure that MCSO implements policies and
procedures to prevent the pattern or practice of unconstitutional conduct
identified in the complaint.
“At its core, this is an abuse of power case
involving Sheriff Arpaio and a sheriff’s office that disregarded the
Constitution, ignored sound police practices, and did not hesitate to retaliate
against perceived critics in a variety of unlawful ways,” said Thomas E. Perez,
Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. “Constitutional policing and effective
policing go hand in hand. The complaint
outlines how Sheriff Arpaio’s actions were neither constitutional nor
effective. No one in Maricopa County is
above the law and the department will fight to ensure that the promise of the
Constitution is realized by everyone in Maricopa County.”
This complaint was filed after a thorough and
independent investigation of MCSO’s policies and practices. Department attorneys, investigators and
experts conducted interviews with more than 400 individuals including, 75
current and former MCSO supervisors and deputies, including Sheriff Arpaio, and
150 former and current MCSO inmates. In
addition, the department reviewed thousands of pages of documents. Many of these interviews and much of this
review was delayed when MCSO refused to provide required documents and
access. MCSO finally provided the
required access and documents after the department filed a lawsuit under Title
VI in September 2010.
Section 14141 prohibits law enforcement
agencies, such as MCSO, from engaging in activities that amount to a pattern or
practice of violating the Constitution or laws of the United States. Title VI and its implementing regulations
provide that recipients of federal financial assistance, such as Maricopa
County and MCSO, may not discriminate on the basis of race, color or national
origin.
Since releasing its findings in December 2011,
the department has repeatedly reached out to MCSO in an effort to achieve
voluntary compliance with the Constitution and Title VI. MCSO ended these efforts in April 2012. In light of the deeply rooted nature of the
problems facing MCSO, the complaint seeks a host of reforms, including a court
order requiring that the defendants:
·
Develop and implement new policies and procedures and train MCSO officers in
effective and constitutional policing;
·
Implement systems to ensure accountability and improve the quality of policing
throughout the county; and
·
Eliminate unlawful bias from all levels of law enforcement decision.
In addition, the Justice Department’s
experience has shown that the most effective path to sustainable reform
includes the appointment of an independent monitor to work collaboratively with
the department and the community to ensure the effective implementation of the
provisions of any court order.
This investigation was conducted by the
Special Litigation Section and the Federal Coordination and Compliance Section
of the Civil Rights Division with the assistance of law enforcement
professionals, including former police chiefs, a jail practices consultant and
a consultant on statistical analysis.
The investigation into the handling of sexual assaults by MCSO remains
ongoing at this time. Members of the
Maricopa County community who may wish to provide information to the Justice
Department may call 1-877-613-2137 or email community.maricopa@usdoj.gov .
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