Audit of arrests:
A study by criminal-justice researchers at Arizona State University as part of the MCSO racial-profiling case has found that Hispanics are more likely to be searched and arrested by deputies at traffic stops in metro Phoenix than whites are.
A U.S. judge ordered a sweeping overhaul nearly four years ago of the office then led by Sheriff Joe Arpaio after finding that his deputies had systematically racially profiled Hispanics in traffic patrols targeting immigrants.
The agency in metro Phoenix is still dogged by those problems after newly released findings say that its officers treat minorities differently from white people.
An audit conducted by criminal justice researchers at Arizona State University as part of the racial profiling case said Hispanics are more likely to be searched and arrested by deputies in traffic stops than whites.
The study, released last week, examined 31,000 traffic stops from July 2015 through June 2016, near the end of Arpaio’s 24-year tenure.
“The likelihood of Hispanics being arrested or searched over time has not decreased, or even changed,” wrote the researchers, who had conducted an earlier study of the agency’s traffic stops. “Conversely, the length of stop for Hispanic drivers, while still longer than whites, decreased across years.”
The agency’s response to the report is expected to be discussed at a court hearing Wednesday.
It was released a month after President Donald Trump pardoned Arpaio for his misdemeanor conviction of intentionally disobeying a court order in the profiling case.
Thirty-three Democrats in Congress filed a friend-of-the-court brief Wednesday that asks the judge in Arpaio’s criminal case to reject the pardon and move forward with his sentencing. They argue the pardon is an invalid encroachment by the president on the power and independence of the courts.
Jeffrey Crouch, a professor of politics at American University who has written a book on presidential pardons, said the Democrats’ request is extremely unusual.
“I highly doubt whether they will be able to overturn Arpaio’s pardon,” Crouch said, adding that Democrats’ goal may be to generate interest in the controversy.
Sheriff Paul Penzone, who took office in January after defeating Arpaio, is developing plans for confronting the problems identified in the audit, including training for deputies and supervisors.
Another report issued this summer by officials who are monitoring the agency on the judge’s behalf charts the status of the sheriff’s office in complying with the court-ordered overhaul.
The agency was deemed 40 percent compliant with the first phase of the overhaul and 58 percent compliant in phase two, according to the report, which covered the first three months of this year.
Taxpayers in metro Phoenix are on the hook for legal costs in the case until the sheriff’s office fully complies with the court-ordered changes for three straight years. By next summer, the costs are expected to reach $92 million.