Prosecutor: Ariz. sheriff’s sweeps on solid legal ground
JACQUES BILLEAUD

PHOENIX (AP) - Maricopa County’s top prosecutor said Tuesday that the sheriff recent high-profile sweeps in metropolitan Phoenix were legal if his officers followed rules prohibiting racial profiling and unwarranted traffic stops.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio has drawn criticism that the sweeps in three heavily Hispanic areas during late March and early April were thinly veiled immigration patrols fraught with racial profiling.

The sweeps led Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon to request a federal investigation of Arpaio for possible civil rights violations. The U.S. Justice Department has declined to comment on the request.

“To the best of my knowledge, the protocol has been followed,â€