Ariz. sheriff accused of bias toward Latinos

Justice Dept. questions his policing policy

The report is likely to increase calls for Joe Arpaio to step down.

By Marc Lacey

New York Times / December 16, 2011

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In a harshly worded critique of the country’s best-known sheriff, the Justice Department accused Joe Arpaio of the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office of engaging in “unconstitutional policing’’ by unfairly targeting Latinos for detentions and arrests and retaliating against those who complain. After an investigation that lasted more than three years, the civil rights division of the Justice Department said in a 22-page report that the sheriff’s office has “a pervasive culture of discriminatory bias against Latinos’’ that “reaches the highest levels of the agency.’’

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