On February 25, 2009, plaintiffs reiterated their demand for documents and were given a total of eight stat sheets that, somehow, escaped the shredder.
On September 10, 2009, the demand for documents was repeated.
Racist correspondence among sheriff's personnel included the following Photoshopped images said to demonstrate Mexican engineering.
Racist correspondence among sheriff's personnel included the following Photoshopped images said to demonstrate Mexican yoga.
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When no documents were produced, another demand was issued on September 30. They sent the seventh notice on October 20.
On October 21, 2009, the production (or, more accurately, non-production) of documents was discussed at a pretrial hearing.
Arpaio's lawyers said, artfully, that all responsive documents in their possession had been turned over.
And, technically, it is true that they no longer possessed shredded documents and deleted e-mails.
Yet virtually two years after the suit was filed, on October 27, 2009, Sergeant Manny Madrid, a supervisor in the Human Smuggling Unit, admitted in deposition that he never was told by anyone to preserve evidence.
It is Sergeant Madrid who shredded his men's stat sheets, evidence that would prove critical in the allegation of racial profiling.
He also had deleted e-mails related to immigration sweeps.
(Maricopa County would discover backup computer files that, embarrassingly, captured all but one year of the e-mails in the Sheriff's Office.)
Other supervisors offered similar testimony.
They shredded documents. They deleted e-mails.
In 2007, Sheriff Joe Arpaio initiated what he called "crime suppression operations." Under direction of the newly formed Human Smuggling Unit, his deputies swarmed neighborhoods.
Utilizing any civil traffic violation — a broken taillight, a cracked windshield, unsafe lane change, and on and on — deputies pulled over vehicles and demanded proof of citizenship.
The attorneys who filed the lawsuit suspected that vehicles were targeted if they were driven or occupied by Hispanics.
But Sergeant Manny Madrid insisted there never was any racial profiling.
On March 21, 2008, Arpaio's men arrested 45 individuals. All but one were Hispanic.
On July 8, 2008, a sweep in Cave Creek yielded 19 arrests — 18 were undocumented Latinos.
Stopping Latinos for minor traffic violations (rather than for criminal conduct as mandated by federal agreements) consistently led to immigration arrests.
It means nothing, said Madrid. Referring to the deputies, Madrid said he believed his men were incapable of racial profiling: "I put my trust in them. They have been trained correctly. They have gone through several academies, such as the basic training academy, the ICE academy."
Yet discovery suggested that Madrid's faith in Arpaio's deputies was misplaced.
Numerous instances of racist correspondence among the sheriff's men surfaced.
What follows is a brief sample. From one deputy to another:
"Mexican words of the day: liver and cheese.
"Some vato tried to talk to my ruca. I told him, 'Orale, vato, LIVER alone. CHEESE mine.'"
"Mexican word of the day: harassment.
"The teacher asked Paco to use 'harassment' in a sentence.
"Paco smiles and says, 'Orale vato. Mi ruca caught me in bed with my sancha, pero that's ok porque I told her that . . . HAR-ASS-MENT nothing to me.'"
"Mexican word of the day: herpes.
"Me and my ruca, we order pizza. I got my piece and she got HERPES!"
The existence of such juvenile racial jibing, no doubt, startled the sheriff's assembled legal team. Arpaio barrister Timothy Casey already had assured all parties, in writing, that:
"The MCSO takes very serious any charge that it, or any of its officers, are or may be engaged in racial profiling. The MCSO expressly prohibits racial profiling in all its law enforcement activities. As such, it is MCSO policy to investigate all complaints, claims, or allegations regarding alleged racial profiling by the MCSO that are lodged with the MCSO.
"Upon receipt of such a complaint, MCSO management will contact each commander in charge of the division with the MCSO to identify and learn any and all facts and information relating to the allegation. Any facts and responsive information then would be evaluated by MCSO management, and appropriate and necessary action would be taken by MCSO management based on the data and information obtained. The MCSO will not tolerate any of its employees engaging in racial profiling or any other unlawful activity."
Well, that certainly clears that up . . . except that:
The sophomoric e-mails were not the only awkward items on deputies' laptops.
There were pictures of men asleep in wheelbarrows, which were identified as Mexican recliners.
Drunks passed out at tables were described as practicing Mexican yoga.
A series of Photoshopped images of improbable contraptions were identified as "Mexican engineering at its best."
The numerous examples of offensive stereotypes of Mexicans were merely the least lethal aspect of a rogue law enforcement culture. The bad-taste e-mails were reinforced throughout the chain of command with more reprehensible consequence.
Arpaio told a national publication in 2009 (while he was under federal investigation): "These people that come over; they could come over with disease. There is no control, no health checks or anything. They check fruits and vegetables. How come they don't check people? No one talks about that.
"They are all dirty."
Not surprisingly, the Department of Justice investigation found that Arpaio's jailers routinely abused prisoners who didn't speak English.
And, inside Arpaio's personal files, there was evidence of the discriminatory practices that put non-English-speaking people in county lockup.
Sheriff Joe Arpaio gave his deposition on December 16, 2009, two full years after the complaint was filed. Asked whether he'd been instructed to retain documents, he replied, "I have not."
