Latino organizations set up hotlines to report racial profiling
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PHOENIX -- In response to Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's hotline that encourages people to report information on undocumented immigrants, Latino organizations have created a network of hotlines for incidents of racial profiling.


Leaders of the Hispanic community said Wednesday that their hotlines will ensure the preservation of civil and constitutional rights and again called for Arpaio's hotline to be taken down.

"We need Sheriff Joe Arpaio to do his job in enforcing the laws without using race as the sole purpose of trying to determine if someone is here illegally," said Rep. Steve Gallardo, a Phoenix Democrat.

The four hotline numbers staffed by Hispanic advocacy groups will be activated Monday.

When a call is received through the hotlines, lawyers on a volunteer basis will review the claims to see whether they are valid. If they are deemed valid, then the reports of racial profiling will be submitted to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Arpaio said about 1,000 calls have been received through his hotline. Eight undocumented immigrants were arrested Wednesday morning during a traffic stop from information gathered from his hotline.

Arpaio said that no call into his hotline would be acted on unless there were probable cause.

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Information from: The Arizona Republic, http://www.azcentral.com