In Valley & State: Can Maricopa County’s new sheriff repair his office’s relationship with the town of Guadalupe?
After years of tension, MCSO relationship with Guadalupe is key challenge for Penzone
Just outside the town hall of Guadalupe, on a power box, is a poster of former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio as a hybrid human-pig. The poster acts as a reminder of the historical tensions between the town and the organization that polices its streets.
Guadalupe contracts with the Maricopa County SheGriiflfa’s OBfeficne the town does not have its oRwnepsoelicrevfaortcieo.Tnhis relationship has sparked tension in the past, and in 2008, it escalated into a confrontation between Arpaio and then-Guadalupe Mayor Rebecca Jimenez over an immigration raid that took place within the town’s limits. Now there is a new sheriff, Paul Penzone. He said he wanBtsetnosdtrengthen the Sheriff’s Office’s relations with the communities who felt targeted by the former administration and find better ways to serve them. Penzone has distanced himself from Arpaio’s policies, but some critics say he hasn’t done enough — or done it fast enough.
Town updated on compliance with Snow’s court orders
Shortly after Penzone took office, a group gathered in the Frank Elementary School cafeteria in Guadalupe for the first court-mandated meeting with the new sheriff’s administration. Most were among a group of regulars who had been attending the court-mandated meetings religiously.
A federal judge had appointed a court monitor to update the community on the agency’s compliance with court orders against racial profiling of Latinos. Between the monitor’s sixth and seventh quarterly reports in 2016, compliance with court orders increased by only 1 percent, to 38 percent from 37 percent, according to the monitor.
Progress was slow under Arpaio, said American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona Legal Director Kathleen Brody.
Brody, who took breaks so an interpreter could relay her words in Spanish, spoke about updates in current legal actions against the Sheriff’s Office in which the ACLU is involved.
“We are hoping the rate of compliance will speed up,” Brody said, adding that remedial measures, such as internal-affairs reforms ordered by U.S. District Court Judge G. Murray Snow, were moving slowly under the previous administration.
“More still needs to be done,” Brody said.
‘My actions will speak louder than my words’
Penzone, in his talk with the audience, discussed how he wants to change community perceptions of the Sheriff’s Office.
“I don’t expect this to happen overnight,” Penzone said, “but my actions will speak louder than my words tonight.”
“I know what a big part this community played in electing me,” he added.
Penzone left after his speech, citing prior engagements that required his time, but MCSO Chief Deputy Ben Henry answered questions.
One question in particular came up twice.
“When will MCSO apologize?” two different people asked.
“We don’t want to supply something that is empty,” Henry said.
In a separate interview with The Republic, Penzone spoke about the community’s want for a formal apology.
“I can be empathetic with their desire to want an apology for actions that were deemed to be unfair or illegal,” Penzone said, adding that it would be unfair to ask those who were not involved to apologize. “An apology should come from who caused it,” he said.
The Arpaio years in Guadalupe: Polarizing, confrontational
Arpaio pulled the agency into the national limelight with his immigration-enforcement policies.
Some of those policies included workplace checks for people who didn’t have proper documents for employment and traffic stops that Snow found to be systematic racial profiling of Latinos.
Longtime Guadalupe resident Mario Ochoa’s store, Mr. Monkey Sales, sits on Avenida del Yaqui. Ochoa remembers seeing traffic stops “all the time” on Guadalupe’s small main thoroughfare during “the Arpaio years.”
The roadway passes through the 0.8square-mile town of approximately 5,500 residents.
“A lot of people were upset, and they were always talking about it,” Ochoa said of the traffic stops, recalling the time he was pulled over by an MCSO deputy in a manner he felt was racially charged.
Stephanie Garcia, who works at the Guadalupe Farmer’s Market, said she has noticed a change in recent years.
“It was a lot busier back then,” Garcia said about 2007-08, adding, “Now it’s so empty.” Garcia believes strong immigration enforcement by Arpaio and now policies from President Donald Trump have caused many residents to leave the town.
“People used to come into the shop and ask if they could help with little things for money. Now, no one comes by,” Garcia said.
2008 immigration sweep, tiff with mayor not forgotten
In Guadalupe, tensions boiled over during an April 2008 “crime sweep” within the town. Residents gathered in a nearby dirt lot to protest the action, which came a week after Arpaio’s first major immigration operation.
Jimenez, the mayor at the time, confronted the sheriff, who had sent out a news release stating “city officials” had asked the sheriff to conduct the sweep. Jimenez said that wasn’t true.
“I came ... here to protect your community on crime, and we have arrested 26 criminals,” Arpaio said to Jimenez, who replied, “Your press release says different.”
The release stated, “Town officials say tensions are escalating between illegal aliens and town residents.”
“Forget the press release,” Arpaio said as the two confronted each other with news cameras rolling.
“You said that you don’t want us back here tomorrow? Is that what you said?” Arpaio said to Jimenez, who promptly responded, “Yes.”
“Well, we will be back here tomorrow, full force,” Arpaio said.
The confrontation ended with Jimenez asking Arpaio to leave and the former sheriff suggesting the town find its own law enforcement.
“And one more thing. If you don’t like the way I operate, you go get your own police department. You got 90 days to cancel your contract. Ninety days. If you want to cancel it, feel free to do it,” Arpaio said to Jimenez, who said the town would “look into that.”
The sheriff’s operation resulted in 22 arrests, five of which were believed to involve people in the country illegally.
In a release issued the next day, Arpaio condemned Jimenez’s response and called her a “supporter of illegal immigration.”
Three months after the confrontation, the ACLU and other groups filed a class-action lawsuit against Arpaio.
The plaintiff, Manuel Jesus De Ortega Melendres, along with four others, claimed systematic racial profiling of Latinos during traffic stops. While hearing the case in 2011, Snow ordered Arpaio to stop conducting immigration checks and raids.
Public fatigue over escalating costs and Arpaio’s legal battles culminated in the sheriff, after 24 years in office, losing his re-election bid to Penzone in 2016.
Jimenez faced her own legal battles. Voters recalled her after she pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor after being initially charged with four counts of fraud, theft and unlawful use of food stamps in 2015.
Looking ahead: Penzone lays out 100-day plan
Penzone laid out his 100-day plan for the agency earlier this year. It created Sheriff Penzone’s Executive Advisory Review Committee, also known as the SPEAR Committee.
The committee is made up of lawyers, former law-enforcement officials and community members who work with the county’s minority communities. This committee will examine the previous administration’s policies; one of the first items on its agenda is the future of Arpaio’s Tent City Jail, Penzone said.
The Sheriff’s Office also is “taking a hard look” at motions filed by the previous administration in cases bearing the organization’s name, said Stephanie Cherny, MCSO chief of staff and special counsel.
Ochoa, the Guadalupe store owner, wasn’t sure what Penzone could do to make up for the actions of the previous administration.
“A lot of people say good things about him, and a lot of people say bad things,” Ochoa said. “I don’t know what he can do. Things like that take time.”
Carlos Garcia, director of the Puente Human Rights Movement, said an apology for past actions would “be great, but not sufficient.”
Garcia said the committee isn’t enough and the sheriff isn’t moving fast enough to distance himself from his predecessor’s policies.
Puente was formed in 2007 in reaction to the MCSO gaining authority to enforce federal immigration laws, and the group has been fighting Arpaio and what it sees as the “culture of Arpaio” for a decade.
Garcia said, “Because Arpaio caused so much harm, Penzone does not have much time,” adding that the group will “treat him like we treated Arpaio” if Penzone continues policies by the former administration.
Garcia said the MCSO has not yet reached out to his group about being a part of the committee or about any other issues.
“They didn’t vote for Penzone; they voted out Arpaio,” Garcia said, adding that the group plans to continue pushing for immigration and police reform under the new administration.
‘A broader conversation happening,’ activist says
On Feb. 8, Puente activists tried to stop an ICE immigration van that was set to deport Guadalupe Garcia de Rayos. The 36-year-old mother of two received a felony charge of impersonation in a 2008 workplace raid conducted by Arpaio at a Golfland Entertainment Center and has since been deported.
“There is a broader conversation happening nationally about immigration,” Garcia said, adding Puente hopes Penzone will “stand up” to the Trump administration.
Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act deputizes local police to act as federal immigration agents, and the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security has invited law-enforcement agencies to participate again after the program was scaled back under President Barack Obama’s administration.
The Sheriff’s Office had its power as an immigration-enforcement agency revoked in 2012.
Penzone has stated that the Sheriff’s Office does not aim to seek 287(g) authority again, and he recently asked the Department of Homeland Security for a “responsible, ethical and legal solution” to detaining immigrants.
Other groups, such as the East Valley NAACP, are more hopeful about the future of the Sheriff’s Office’s relationship with minority communities.
“He (Penzone) needs to have members of the community who were affected involved,” said East Valley NAACP President Roy Tatum Jr., adding that transparency within the Sheriff’s Office will be paramount to regaining the trust of the community.
“He has come into a mess,” Tatum said, adding that he was worried staff who may have been supportive of Arpaio’s policies may remain in positions of power with the organization and that it may take time to “root that out.”
“I can be empathetic with their desire to want an apology for actions that were deemed to be unfair or illegal . ... An apology should come from who caused it.” PAUL PENZONE, MARICOPA COUNTY SHERIFF, ON APOLOGIZING TO GUADALUPE FOR HIS PREDECESSOR’S ACTIONS