Thread: AZ-Arpaio, top deputy blame left-wing agenda for agency woes

Arpaio, top deputy blame left-wing agenda for agency woes
by JJ Hensley - Feb. 21, 2010 12:00 AM

Arpaio chief testifies under oath
Hendershott discusses Dept. of Justice
Hendershott discusses racial profiling

A racial-profiling lawsuit against the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office is still months from going to trial, if ever, but preparations offer unique, if one-sided, insight into the influential agency.


After more than 15 hours of combined deposition testimony, two things emerge: Deputy Chief David Hendershott runs the day-to-day operations of Sheriff Joe Arpaio's office, and both men blame the agency's troubles - including a U.S. Department of Justice civil-rights investigation announced last March - on a left-wing conspiracy among the White House, civil-rights organizations, attorneys and Valley media.

"I believe also that it has become clear that you, (attorney) Bill Strauss, (Phoenix Mayor) Phil Gordon, members of the Anti-Defamation League . . . have a political agenda that you are trying to push with this," Hendershott said to Phoenix lawyer David Bodney during the interview. "Your members and others have worked in concert with the Department of Justice in producing what amounts to large amounts of enflamed media that we have learned . . . is basically the only basis that the Department of Justice sent us this letter."

Hendershott and Arpaio were interviewed at length in connection with a civil-rights lawsuit filed in federal court alleging that sheriff's deputies targeted five plaintiffs for arrest or citations because of their race.

Bodney, who represents several local media outlets including The Arizona Republic, separately represents plaintiffs in the civil-rights lawsuit, filed in December 2007 by the American Civil Liberties Union.

The deposition proceedings are intended to uncover information for discovery. They allow attorneys leeway to ask questions on topics that might or might not come up at trial.

During the two interviews - Arpaio's in mid-December, Hendershott's last week - Bodney quizzed the Sheriff's Office on allegations of racial profiling and other topics, including Arpaio's co-authored biographies and an award-winning set of stories in the East Valley Tribune.

Transcripts and videotapes of the testimony offer a look into an agency that is in the national spotlight on immigration issues and finds itself at the center of at least three state and federal investigations examining potential civil-rights and campaign-finance violations.

The testimony illuminates contradictions in how deputies are trained on racial profiling, with Hendershott saying updates on the topic are posted in sheriff's facilities and Arpaio saying he's never seen written materials on racial profiling.

Bodney generated responses indicating the Sheriff's Office is unconcerned by racial-profiling allegations that have dogged the agency since a decision to more actively pursue illegal immigrants in Maricopa County.

"Racial profiling is a state of mind," Hendershott said. "We can only deal with facts."

Hendershott repeatedly told Bodney the Sheriff's Office has policies and practices in place to investigate racial-profiling complaints and hold employees accountable when warranted. The agency has conducted three investigations in two years, finding no wrongdoing.

But the sheriff's chief deputy was adamant that many allegations against the agency are the work of liberals who want to encourage illegal immigration.

"I believe that the Obama administration has a political agenda that involves some form of either amnesty or something that does not comport or is not convenient to the current law," Hendershott said. "The high-profile nature of the sheriff has become a concern, and therefore we are dealing with this."

The Republic obtained videotape of Hendershott's deposition by requesting it from the plaintiffs' attorneys after the time and date of the deposition were cited in U.S. District Court filings.


http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/ ... o0221.html

Originally Posted by FedUpinFarmersBranch

"I believe that the Obama administration has a political agenda that involves some form of either amnesty or something that does not comport or is not convenient to the current law," Hendershott said. "The high-profile nature of the sheriff has become a concern, and therefore we are dealing with this."

So do I.

The DoJ needs to investigate the Trojan Horse Executive Branch

visalad wrote:

"FedUpinFarmersBranch wrote:

"I believe that the Obama administration has a political agenda that involves some form of either amnesty or something that does not comport or is not convenient to the current law," Hendershott said. "The high-profile nature of the sheriff has become a concern, and therefore we are dealing with this."
So do I."

And so do I. And so did, I believe, the previous Administration. But they were able to use highly placed RINO's like Sen. John McCain to push their amnesty agenda. Unfortunately, that was defeated by the American people in 2007, so now the "powers that be" are having to try a different tack! Stand strong, Sheriff Joe.