Judge plans to hold Sheriff Paul Penzone in contempt of court in racial profiling case

A federal judge in Phoenix said he plans to issue a contempt of court finding against Maricopa County Sheriff Paul Penzone for failing to comply with court-mandated reforms at the agency he has led since 2016. 

The reforms at the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office began before Penzone took office. They stem from a class-action lawsuit filed against former Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who was convicted of and later pardoned for criminal contempt of court for disregarding the judge's order to stop racially profiling Latino drivers in Maricopa County.

U.S. District Judge G. Murray Snow has not yet issued his order of contempt against Penzone. But during a status conference on Tuesday, he signaled it would be forthcoming. 

The hearing is part of ongoing efforts to get the Sheriff's Office in compliance with two court orders that Snow issued in the Melendres v. Arpaio lawsuit with a lengthy list of requirements to prevent further profiling.

That includes the appointment of an independent court monitor to oversee the Sheriff's Office's progress in complying with Snow's orders. A review earlier this year by The Arizona Republic found that taxpayer-funded costs associated with the Melendres lawsuit had reached $188 million to date. 

A Sheriff's Office spokesperson declined to comment, saying doing so would be "inappropriate" because Snow has not issued the order of contempt. 

But Penzone told The Republic in March that his agency continues to make a lot of progress, even if they remain out of compliance with certain sections. 

"It's very easy to be a critic, when you've never had to manage an organization, you've never had to be responsible for law enforcement operations, where you've never had to balance court orders with organizational capacity, and you've never had to change a culture that existed for a quarter of a century,” Penzone said. 

For subscribers:Penzone continues Arpaio practice of allowing immigration officers in county jails

Sheriff's Office inquiry backlog at issue

Tuesday's hearing focused specifically on one of the key areas that the Sheriff's Office remains out of compliance with: the length of time that it takes for sheriff's investigators to resolve misconduct allegations against deputies. 

In September 2021, Snow appointed Michael Gennaco as a court management expert, and tasked him with reviewing and coming up with recommendations on how to get the Sheriff's Office to comply with time limits on administrative investigations into misconduct allegations.

Gennaco presented his findings at this week's hearing. According to his report, the Professional Standards Bureau, which is the Sheriff's Office's internal investigative unit, has a backlog of 2,086 pending misconduct investigations as of March. 

It takes an average of 611 days to complete a single investigation, Gennaco found. That went down compared with peak wait times in 2021. But the length of time to close investigations remains far longer than the 60- to 85-day window established by Snow's order, and even longer than the 180-day time frame under Arizona law.

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Gennaco said that the complaints filed by community members provide valuable feedback and shows that the agency is listening to the community's concerns, but delays in addressing those concerns can cause a breakdown in that relationship.

"Given the issues of historical mistrust between law enforcement and some communities of color, and given the socioeconomic vulnerability or language barriers that some people must overcome in order to engage with the system and even lodge a complaint, it is all the more important for the process to have legitimacy," Gennaco said in his report.

The 41-page document attributed the backlog to several factors. It said the Sheriff's Office has prioritized conducting quality investigations, at the expense of timeliness. But it pointed out how the caseload for the 27 investigators under the Professional Standards Bureau has increased drastically since 2016. However, hiring and resources have not kept up since then, resulting in the growing backlog. 

Gennaco listed 20 recommendations to eliminate the backlog in pending investigations. Chief among them, is to hire more investigators and to allocate greater resources to the Professional Standards Bureau. 

'Quality control' adviser could build trust with public, 

But his main recommendation was the creation of an independent Constitutional Policing Adviser as a way to tackle lingering mistrust about the Sheriff's Office's ability to essentially investigate itself. The /adviser would essentially act as "quality control" on investigations.  

He acknowledged the progress Penzone has done in recent years, and even praised efforts to increase the quality of completed investigations. But he placed responsibility for the growing backlog squarely on the sheriff.

"It has been over five years since Sheriff Penzone has been at the helm of MCSO," the report said. "Accordingly, the current intolerable backlog of cases is now his responsibility and to date, insufficient resources have been committed to ensure quality, fair and timely investigations of misconduct allegations." 

Sheriff's report:Hispanic, black drivers more likely to be held longer in traffic stops than white drivers

In his response filed in court, Penzone said the Sheriff's Office already has begun to implement many of the recommendations in Gennaco's report. He also didn't oppose the recommendations of creating an independent Constitutional Policing Adviser.

"MCSO does, however, worry that the development of this new and intricate role, and the hiring of an appropriate person to serve as CPA will take considerable time, thereby slowing the efforts to address the growing backlog of cases," Penzone's response read.

During Tuesday's hearing, Snow tasked the parties involved in the Melendres lawsuit with submitting additional recommendations about the creation of the Constitutional Policing Adviser before Sept. 13. His contempt finding would be issued sometime after that. 

Have any news tips or story ideas about immigration in the Southwest? Reach the reporter at rafael.carranza@arizonarepublic.com, or follow him on Twitter at @RafaelCarranza.

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