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Compliance Reports

Frequently Asked Questions

First Supplemental Order

Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law

Second Amended Supplemental Order

Third Supplemental Order

Maricopa Sheriff Compensation Fund

Melendres Compliance

The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office is committed to improving community relations and strengthening the relationship between MCSO and the Latino community. While we can’t change the past, we can learn from it, and make Maricopa County a better place for all who live, work, and play here.                                                                                                           

The History and Impact of Discriminatory Policing in Maricopa County

In a class action lawsuit filed in 2007, Manuel de Jesus Ortega Melendres v. Arpaio, MCSO was found to have relied on racial profiling and unlawful traffic stops of Latinos. The court found that, under the direction of Sheriff Joe Arpaio, the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office violated the constitutional rights of Latinos.

MCSO is currently under oversight by a Federal Court appointed Monitor. We are applying unprecedented financial and personnel resources to help us to achieve full and effective compliance with the court orders. The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, the Monitor, and the attorneys representing the Plaintiffs and the Department of Justice are working together to ensure that such injustices never happen again.

Reforms

Under the leadership of Sheriff Russ Skinner, MCSO is striving to work from a reinvigorated foundation of ethics, standards, and skills. Sheriff Skinner has made structural changes within the Sheriff’s Office that emphasize making MCSO a world-class professional organization that is both respectful and responsive toward the community.

Sheriff Skinner is working to ensure that our officers are following current best police practices and providing the most professional services to everyone in our community. The entire MCSO team is equally committed to rebuilding trust with the Latino community. We’ve taken great strides toward our aim of full and effective compliance, but recognize there is still work to done.

History

In December 2007, a class-action lawsuit was filed against the MCSO and former Sheriff Joe Arpaio, alleging that MCSO engaged in a custom, policy, and practice of racially profiling Latinos, and a policy of unconstitutionally stopping persons without reasonable suspicion of criminal activity, in violation of their Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights.

Sheriff Arpaio, in his desire to make MCSO a "full-fledged anti-illegal immigration agency,” had created an agency where race, and not criminality, served as a basis to target Latinos. Despite the fact that the majority of Latinos in Maricopa County were legal residents of the United States, MCSO used race and Hispanic ancestry as a pretext to investigate immigration violations.

MCSO conducted a number of operations primarily targeting Latinos using the Human Smuggling Unit (HSU), created in 2006, and the 287(g) agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that allowed certain deputies to act as immigration agents. Some were small-scale operations focused on day laborers, as MCSO equated being a Hispanic or Mexican day laborer with being an undocumented immigrant. MCSO also conducted large “saturation patrols” into predominately Latino communities. These saturation patrols used traffic enforcement to check the immigration status of Latinos stopped for minor traffic offenses. Despite the subsequent revocation by the federal government of the 287(g) agreement, MCSO continued to enforce immigration law.

On May 24, 2013, the Court found that MCSO’s policies and procedures institutionalized the illegal consideration of race as a factor in its policing practices. The Court ruled that MCSO must stop its immigration enforcement and not use Hispanic ancestry as a factor in making law enforcement decisions, as it violated the 4th and 14th Amendments of the U.S. Constitution. MCSO was also prohibited from extending traffic stops to investigate immigration status or calling ICE.

The court issued an order detailing the actions required by MCSO to come into compliance and appointed an independent monitor to oversee the process. Despite the Court’s order, racial profiling of Latinos continued. Former Sheriff Arpaio persistently and publicly violated the judge’s order. The court found that MCSO deputies demonstrated an intention to violate and manipulate the laws and policies regulating their conduct as they pertained to be fair, equitable, and impartial with respect to the Latino community.

Because former Sheriff Arpaio and other MCSO deputies repeatedly violated the Judge’s order to stop racially profiling Latinos, the Judge issued the Second Supplemental Court Order, which required additional oversight and reforms for MCSO.

In November 2016, the people voted Joe Arpaio out of office and elected Paul Penzone as the new Maricopa County Sheriff; he resigned in January 2023. Former Sheriff Penzone replaced nearly all of MCSO executive command staff. He created a new Community Outreach Division (COrD), which began working diligently to engage with the community and rebuild broken relationships between the community and MCSO. MCSO personnel have attended over 450 community meetings and events.

About the Court Implementation Division (CID)

The Court Implementation Division was created at the direction of the First Supplemental Court Order. CID consists of:

• One Captain

• One Lieutenant

• Three Sergeants

• Two Deputy Sheriffs

• Five Management Analysts

• One Management Assistant

• Two Administrative Assistants

CID serves as a central conduit of information between the Court appointed Monitor and all parts of MCSO. It also works closely with all parties involved in the Melendres lawsuit to enhance communication and help MCSO maintain full compliance with the Court ordered reforms.

Advisory Boards

• The Community Advisory Board (CAB) is an independent 5-member board created by the Court in Melendres. The CAB meets regularly with MCSO and advises them on issues related to the Latino community and compliance with the court orders. They are also tasked with facilitating regular dialogue between the MCSO and community leaders. In addition, the CAB meets at least 3 times a year to listen to the affected community and their experiences with MCSO. The following community members comprise the CAB:
  • Cesar Chavez
  • Natalie Segovia
  • Nick Rodriguez
  • Raul Piña
  • Sylvia Herrera, Ph. D.

• Additional community advisory boards were created at the direction of former Sheriff Penzone. These boards advise the Sheriff on important matters that affect the community and serve to give a voice to the communities they represent:

• The Hispanic Advisory Board is made up of Dreamers, businesspeople, activists, educators, and community leaders

• The Sheriff also formed an African American Advisory Board and an LGBTQ Advisory Board

The monitor hosts quarterly community meetings to update the community on compliance with the court orders.