10/05/2012 - Myclipp

non-Latino drivers who engaged in similar conduct.
The complaint focused in particular on the work of Mr.
Arpaio’s human-smuggling unit, whose role is to
capture illegal immigrants as they are brought to the
country, as well as the people who bring them in. It
criticized a three-page policy guiding the unit as
insufficient to prevent discriminatory policing, and said
there was no mechanism in place to log complaints of
abuse and help identify deputies who might be
engaged in a pattern of misconduct. “There is no
legitimate law enforcement purpose that explains
these failures” other than to prove that the
discrimination against Latinos is “intentional,” it
charged. The lawsuit also charged that the criteria the
unit uses to stop, search and arrest people – including
detaining Hispanics who do not speak English and are
not carrying papers proving their citizenship, and who
appear to be nervous or have a strong smell of body
odor – fell short of the probable cause required before
police may stop and detain people. For example, on
one occasion deputies stopped a car carrying four
Latino men, although the car was violating no traffic
laws, on the sole grounds that the vehicle “was a little
The New York Times/ - Politics, Qui, 10 de Maio de 2012
CLIPPING INTERNACIONAL (Civil Rights)
low.” The men were ordered out of the car, zip-tied,
and made to sit on a curb for an hour before being
released. The workplace raids are loosely organized
and poorly supervised, carried out by officers who
generally lack the proper training, the lawsuit said.
Neighborhoods, for their part, are picked for raids
based on complaints from non-Latinos that a large
number of Latinos live there, the lawsuit says.
Non-English speakers who are arrested and held in
the county jail face further problems, the complaint
said. Jail officials issue instructions only in English,
and punish people who do not obey. Prisoners have
been denied basic hygienic items – like sanitary
napkins for women who are menstruating – if they do
not ask for them in English, it said. The complaint also
accused the department and its allies of a pattern of
harassing and retaliating against people who criticize
Mr. Arpaio’s policies on immigration, including filing
complaints against judges and filing lawsuits later
found to be baseless, and arresting people without
justification.
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