Chandler not saying much after crime sweep
54 comments by Edythe Jensen - Jul. 28, 2009 01:57 PM

Chandler officials and resident activists are saying little about Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's Southeast Valley "crime suppression operation" in their city last week. The reaction is in stark contrast to protests in other communities after Arpaio conducted similar sweeps targeting illegal immigrants.

Some hint that silence is a ploy to withhold the limelight they say the sheriff seems to crave.

"If he didn't get the attention, would he be doing it?" asked Councilman Matt Orlando. "What I'd like to know is what's really going on here? What is he trying to accomplish and is it cost-effective?"
"Publicity is a concern," said diversity administrator Leah Powell. The city's Human Relations Commission that Powell oversees has a meeting tonight, but members aren't speaking publicly about Arpaio's efforts. The group was formed by former Mayor Jay Tibshraeny after Chandler's infamous 1997 immigration "roundup" that detained hundreds of legal residents and cost taxpayers more than $500,000 in legal settlements and fees.

Tibshraeny, now a state senator, referred questions about the sheriff's latest operation to city officials.

Several Human Relations Commission members declined to discuss the sweep and referred questions to Powell or Chairwoman Gina Hill. Hill responded in e-mail and stressed her opinion was not an official position of the commission. "Whatever the issue, I believe fundamentally that we should exercise our responsibilities within the framework of humanity including issues related to the law." She wouldn't say whether she thought Arpaio met those standards.

City spokeswoman Nachie Marquez said there have been only two e-mails and one phone call to municipal offices about the sweep.

"They were not in favor of what the sheriff was doing but they were very complimentary of our Police Department," she said.

When the effort started Thursday, Mayor Boyd Dunn and Vice Mayor Bob Caccamo said they were disappointed that they weren't told about it in advance. On Monday, Caccamo said he was relieved to learn that Arpaio had called the Police Department hours before the operation started.

According to figures released by the Sheriff's Office, the operation resulted in 74 arrests; 15 were illegal immigrants. An additional 10 of those detained were identified as illegal immigrants but were not taken into custody as directed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. No city breakdowns were available.



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