Arpaio probe: Feds told to 'put up or shut up'
Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery made his strongest statements yet about the U.S. Justice Department's investigation into Sheriff Joe Arpaio's office, accusing federal officials of spreading misinformation and attempting to foment unrest in Maricopa County by alleging discriminatory police practices without providing proof to back up the accusations.
Federal investigators released a 22-page report last December that accused the Sheriff's Office of widespread discrimination against Latino residents through its patrol and jail operations. Sheriff's officials have said the report was full of anecdotal information but lacked details to substantiate allegations that the agency had a systemic problem with discriminatory policing.
Montgomery took the same approach in his Wednesday news conference, calling on the Justice Department to "put up or shut up."
"I want to make it absolutely clear: If the Department of Justice actually has information that supports their assertion that there continues to this day systemic concerns of discriminatory policing or racial profiling, I demand, I demand as the chief prosecutor of Maricopa County, I demand as the duly elected officer with responsibility for prosecutions, to be given that information immediately," Montgomery said. "This posturing, this playing hide the ball in the context of civil litigation, is disgusting, particularly when it involves criminal prosecutions."
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday afternoon.
The Sheriff's Office and local media outlets also have requested detailed information on which the allegations are based, but the Justice Department considers the investigation ongoing until a settlement is reached and has declined to turn over any documentation.
The information Montgomery and the Sheriff's Office requested can frequently emerge through the negotiation process, but Arpaio's discussions with the Justice Department were halted Tuesday after the Sheriff's Office refused to consider a court-appointed monitor as part of any solution to the discrimination federal investigators found.
If negotiations cannot resume, the Justice Department indicated a lawsuit against the Sheriff's Office is on the horizon.
Montgomery conceded that some examples of bad policing that the Justice Department cited in its February report were pf concern, but he said those appeared to be isolated incidents and he had yet to see any evidence that discriminatory policing has continued since he took office in November 2010.
Montgomery said he added new procedures to review the constitutionality of human-smuggling prosecutions and those related to the sheriff's work-site enforcement efforts. He said Justice Department investigators did not consider those new checks and balances when drafting their report on the Sheriff's Office.
"Arizona is not the federal government's playground for you to come in here and throw around accusations and assertions and not back it up," Montgomery said. "If they provide this information, I'll take back everything I just said."
Aside from asking for the government's cooperation, Montgomery conceded there is little he can do to demand the information.
Arpaio is represented by private attorneys the county appointed to the Sheriff's Office. Montgomery said the County Attorney's Office is not part of negotiations between the Sheriff's Office and Justice Department, and will not be a part of any lawsuit the federal government may bring against Arpaio.
Montgomery's office is also in the process of reviewing hundreds of sex-crime cases that sheriff's detectives failed to adequately investigate in the 2000s.
Federal investigators have raised concerns with those cases on several occasions, and Montgomery said county prosecutors are actively reviewing those cases. Any attempt by the federal government to withhold from county prosecutors information on the sex crimes could lead to disciplinary action before Bar associations regulating attorney conduct, Montgomery said.
"If they really shared that concern, then give me the information so I can do my job as well," Montgomery said. "Absent that information, I can only conclude that they are posturing for litigation sake and lying to the people of Maricopa County."
Federal investigators released a 22-page report last December that accused the Sheriff's Office of widespread discrimination against Latino residents through its patrol and jail operations. Sheriff's officials have said the report was full of anecdotal information but lacked details to substantiate allegations that the agency had a systemic problem with discriminatory policing.
Montgomery took the same approach in his Wednesday news conference, calling on the Justice Department to "put up or shut up."
"I want to make it absolutely clear: If the Department of Justice actually has information that supports their assertion that there continues to this day systemic concerns of discriminatory policing or racial profiling, I demand, I demand as the chief prosecutor of Maricopa County, I demand as the duly elected officer with responsibility for prosecutions, to be given that information immediately," Montgomery said. "This posturing, this playing hide the ball in the context of civil litigation, is disgusting, particularly when it involves criminal prosecutions."
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday afternoon.
The Sheriff's Office and local media outlets also have requested detailed information on which the allegations are based, but the Justice Department considers the investigation ongoing until a settlement is reached and has declined to turn over any documentation.
The information Montgomery and the Sheriff's Office requested can frequently emerge through the negotiation process, but Arpaio's discussions with the Justice Department were halted Tuesday after the Sheriff's Office refused to consider a court-appointed monitor as part of any solution to the discrimination federal investigators found.
If negotiations cannot resume, the Justice Department indicated a lawsuit against the Sheriff's Office is on the horizon.
Montgomery conceded that some examples of bad policing that the Justice Department cited in its February report were pf concern, but he said those appeared to be isolated incidents and he had yet to see any evidence that discriminatory policing has continued since he took office in November 2010.
Montgomery said he added new procedures to review the constitutionality of human-smuggling prosecutions and those related to the sheriff's work-site enforcement efforts. He said Justice Department investigators did not consider those new checks and balances when drafting their report on the Sheriff's Office.
"Arizona is not the federal government's playground for you to come in here and throw around accusations and assertions and not back it up," Montgomery said. "If they provide this information, I'll take back everything I just said."
Aside from asking for the government's cooperation, Montgomery conceded there is little he can do to demand the information.
Arpaio is represented by private attorneys the county appointed to the Sheriff's Office. Montgomery said the County Attorney's Office is not part of negotiations between the Sheriff's Office and Justice Department, and will not be a part of any lawsuit the federal government may bring against Arpaio.
Montgomery's office is also in the process of reviewing hundreds of sex-crime cases that sheriff's detectives failed to adequately investigate in the 2000s.
Federal investigators have raised concerns with those cases on several occasions, and Montgomery said county prosecutors are actively reviewing those cases. Any attempt by the federal government to withhold from county prosecutors information on the sex crimes could lead to disciplinary action before Bar associations regulating attorney conduct, Montgomery said.
"If they really shared that concern, then give me the information so I can do my job as well," Montgomery said. "Absent that information, I can only conclude that they are posturing for litigation sake and lying to the people of Maricopa County."
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