Thread: Sheriff`s deal in Honduras defended

Sheriff's deal in Honduras defended
Deputy chief calls program helpful
by JJ Hensley - May. 25, 2008 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic
The man who helped establish Maricopa County Sheriff's Office's controversial Honduras program defended it as a worthwhile effort, saying authorities here are getting photos for a facial-recognition database designed to combat terrorism.

Speaking publicly about it for the first time, Deputy Chief Dave Hendershott also said the department's use of tens of thousands of dollars to send personnel to the Central American country to train the police force is a good thing to do.

It has helped root out corruption on the Honduran police force and taught officers to investigate crimes better, Hendershott said.
Sheriff's officials consistently deflected questions and criticism since reports of the program surfaced in late February. The program raised eyebrows, in part, because the department has spent more than $150,000 of taxpayer money in salaries for sheriff's employees and at least $30,000 in money seized through racketeering investigations, at a time of severe budget problems.

The spending from the Racketeer Influenced, Corrupt Organizations fund prompted the state's auditor general to move up an audit scheduled for 2009.

Hendershott would not go in depth about certain details, including how many photos and of whom the Honduran police are providing to the Sheriff's Office. Nor would he give specifics about how the sheriff's efforts have helped uncover or fight corruption within Honduras' police force.

Nor would he say whether the compact between the two entities has resulted in any crimes being cleared.

He said to give details might put some lives at risk.

"The value of raw intelligence data that law-enforcement agencies, whether they be local or from different countries, is enormous," Hendershott said. "The development of cooperative partnerships is immeasurable when it comes to mutual cooperation in solving crimes on the local and international level."

Manuel Johnson, a spokesman for the FBI office in Phoenix, did note this month that the FBI shared information on a case with the Sheriff's Office, knowing that sheriff's personnel would be in Honduras. He declined to elaborate because the case is ongoing.

The photos that Maricopa County receives from Honduran authorities are passed on to the facial-recognition database to which law-enforcement agencies have access at the Arizona Counter Terrorism Information Center.

The database has 20 million photos and, at a large event such as the Super Bowl, can scan up to 10 faces at a time, searching for matches with known criminals, Hendershott said.

When Sheriff Joe Arpaio was first asked about the department's trips to Honduras, he said the agency had received "millions" of photos from Honduran officials.

Although Arpaio said the program was being reviewed when it first came under fire months ago, deputies have traveled to the Central American country since then and there are no plans to suspend the program.

It's not unusual for law-enforcement agencies to have working agreements with other countries, but it's more common for the contract to occur between border states and their neighbors.

The Department of Public Safety has an agreement with Sonora, Mexico, to collaborate on crime fighting, just as California and Texas law-enforcement groups have pacts with their counterparts across the border.

The relationship between the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office and Honduras, 2,000 miles away, is unusual.

The accord between the Sheriff's Office and Honduran law enforcement began when Roger Marshall, at the time a retired sheriff's homicide investigator, was doing missionary work on Roatan Island, a scuba-diving destination off northeastern Honduras. He was attempting to establish a shelter for battered women.

Marshall, who has rejoined the Sheriff's Office, recognized the need for Honduran police forces to receive proper investigative training, ranging from traffic accidents to sex crimes to preserving evidence at crime scenes, according to documents.

Marshall began making connections between the Sheriff's Office and Honduran police in 2006, and by early 2007, a formal agreement was in place and the first group of sheriff's representatives was headed to the island.

Within the next 14 months, groups of sheriff's employees, ranging in size from two to seven, would take six trips and spend a few weeks at a time training hundreds, documents show.

Some employees spent the equivalent of six to 10 weeks in the country in the past year.

"We use very intelligent commanders and trainers to get the return on investment for actually setting up a non-corrupt, secure relationship with a foreign country," Hendershott said.

The department's deal with Honduras has spawned speculation that Hendershott has an inappropriate relationship with the facial-recognition software provider - a local company called Darcomm - or has land and business interests in Honduras.

Nothing in the reams of public records the Sheriff's Office has released about its Honduras operations shows a relationship between Hendershott and the software provider or the Central American country, where tracing land ownership is a tedious process.

"I have no business arrangement with any county vendor, nor does my wife, nor does any member of my family," Hendershott said. "I do not own a single stitch of property outside the United States."







http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/ ... s0525.html

The database has 20 million photos and, at a large event such as the Super Bowl, can scan up to 10 faces at a time, searching for matches with known criminals, Hendershott said.

Well, for once, this is a positive move. To use technology to fight evil form other countries, WITH the blessings of that country. Congrats Honduras!

Good to read a Post like this for it has not made the AZ papers to get the people here talking about it.