A federal judge in Phoenix found the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office in civil contempt for taking too long to investigate misconduct allegations.
A federal judge took a familiar step Tuesday, finding Maricopa County Sheriff Paul Penzone to be in civil contempt of his long-standing court orders.
He is the same judge who found former Sheriff Joe Arpaio in civil and criminal contempt of his orders. Snow ordered reforms after finding that Sheriff Arpaio and the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office had engaged in widespread racial profiling by singling out Latino drivers in traffic stops. Snow issued a court order mandating greater oversight over the agency and appointed a court monitor. But in May 2016, Snow issued a second order after finding Arpaio and his staff in civil contempt of court for ignoring the oversight requirements under his previous order to root out racial profiling.
To remedy the backlog, Snow outlined additional steps the Sheriff’s Office must take. First, he ordered the agency to maintain staffing at 39 investigators as part of the department’s Professional Standards Bureau, which is responsible for investigating deputy misconduct. It also puts the county on the hook financially for failing to address the backlog.
Enforcement of the component order issued on Tuesday will fall under Robert Warshaw, the independent court monitor appointed by Snow, as long as the backlog remains in place. Progress will be tracked in quarterly reports that Warshaw submits to Snow. “Since I became sheriff, we have closed over 4,397 investigations,” Penzone wrote. “Despite our hard work and considerable staff, the volume of cases was overwhelming and exceeded the capacity of our internal affairs division.”
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