Thread: Arpaio returns to Mesa with 100 officers, posse members

Originally Posted by CCUSA

HE SHOULD RUN HOMELAND SECURITY!!!!!!!!!!!

Or president!

July 14, 2008 - 5:09PM
Updated: July 14, 2008 - 7:29PM
Sheriff brings sweep back to Mesa
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Tribune
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio sent dozens of his deputies and volunteer posse members into Mesa on Monday for an “unannouncedâ€

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Arpaio launches another sweep in Mesa
July 15th, 2008 @ 6:07am
by Bob McClay/KTAR/Associated Press

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio has conducted another crackdown on immigration and other criminal violators in Mesa.

Arpaio held a press conference at a county island in Tempe Monday to announce the new sweep, and to sarcastically thank other public officials for keeping his immigration crackdowns in the public eye.

"Let's start off with the mayor of Phoenix - thank you, Mayor [Gordon], for going to the justice department, and asking for me to be investigated," Arpaio said. "Thank you, Governor [Napolitano], for taking away $1.2 million that the legislature gave to me."

About 20 protesters gathered at the sheriff's command post in Tempe. Among them was Dennis Gilman, who said the sheriff's other duties suffer when he's doing roundups.

``His response time is slow for real arrests. He's doing a terrible job and he's breaking up families. Children are being left without parents," Gilman said. ``He's doing nothing, absolutely nothing, but trying to appeal to a fringe, racist element that doesn't like brown people."

Another protester, Melissa LePiane, said, ``I have done this every time Sheriff Joe comes, and I would say 90 to 95 percent of people who are pulled over are brown. That doesn't reflect our demographics, so why is it that is happening? That's racial profiling and it's not okay."

The effort came more than two weeks after the sheriff's office conducted a similar sweep in Mesa.

Arpaio was upset that word of his late June crackdown in Mesa had been leaked to news reporters. The latest sweep was unannounced.

The sheriff has drawn criticism for crackdowns in three heavily Hispanic areas of metropolitan Phoenix during late March and early April.

While critics say the sweeps were fraught with racial profiling, Arpaio says the patrols were intended to suppress crime and that his deputies didn't racially profile Hispanics.

Photos: Arpaio launches another immigration sweep
http://ktar.com/?nid=6&sid=897568

July 15, 2008 - 2:12PM
MCSO arrests 40 in sweep, 26 suspected illegals
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Tribune
The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office says deputies arrested 40 people on Monday in a crime suppression operation in Mesa.

SLIDESHOW: Immigration sweep in Mesa

Sheriff brings sweep back to Mesa

SPECIAL REPORT: 'Reasonable Doubt' examines Sheriff Joe Arpaio's human smuggling unit and its hidden costs

Seven warrants were cleared by arrest and 26 of those arrested were determined to be in the country illegally, MCSO spokesman Capt. Paul Chagolla said in a news release.

It was the second time in recent weeks that deputies conducted the sweeps in Mesa. In June, deputies patrolled the streets for two days in what MCSO also calls illegal immigration enforcement operations.

The sweeps, including June operation, and others previously conducted in Phoenix and Guadalupe, generally draw hundreds of demonstrators on both sides of the issue. Monday’s operation was not publicized beforehand as the others have been, so there were no large demonstrations.
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/120854