Phoenix mayor accused of endangering deputies in Guadalupe

Hanna Scott

Maricopa County sheriff’s deputies who work the Guadalupe beat say the Phoenix Police Department is welcome to take over law enforcement in the town.

District Commander Tim Campbell and Lt. Ed Shepard say comments by Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon and Guadalupe Mayor Rebecca Jimenez after the sheriff’s recent crime suppression patrols in the town have put deputies in jeopardy. The mile-square town on the Phoenix-Tempe border, with a predominantly Hispanic population, currently contracts with the sheriff’s department for law enforcement. Both Gordon and Jimenez were critical of the sheriff’s patrols, saying they were aimed at illegal immigrants and amount to racial profiling.

In a letter to the U.S. Justice Department, urging an investigation of Sheriff Joe Arpaio, Gordon said Guadalupe ranks near the bottom when it comes to violent crime in the Valley and that there was just one violent crime in Guadalupe last month. Campbell said that isn’t true.

“I was really quite surprised, and I don’t know where Mayor Gordon gets those statistics,â€