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Either way Sheriff Joe has got to go.

If Sheriff Joe didn't know his hand picked top aides were crooks you could say he is incompetent as a manager.

Of course I think Sheriff Joe was partners in crime with his buddies who he just fired. I think Sheriff Joe knew about the criminal actions of these guys, and approved the crimes the commited.

Source

Arpaio fires 2 top aides, including Hendershott, after probe

by JJ Hensley and Yvonne Wingett Sanchez - Apr. 22, 2011 05:40 PM

The Arizona Republic

Sheriff Joe Arpaio fired Chief Deputy David Hendershott and Deputy Chief Larry Black Friday following a six-month investigation into allegations of misconduct that targeted those two top aides and Capt. Joel Fox.

Hendershott and Black were told they were fired in letters the Sheriff's Office delivered to their homes on Friday afternoon.

The two sheriff's commanders will have the opportunity to review the allegations and findings against them, and present their sides in a hearing. The letter states that the firing is effective as of 5 p.m. May 5.

However, the decision to terminate the two longtime Arpaio aides is final.

The letters delivered to Hendershott and Black inform the two former commanders that if they choose to present their sides at a hearing, their statements will no longer be protected under the shield law-enforcement professionals enjoy when they are subjects of internal investigations.

"Therefore, any statement that you make during the name clearing hearing or any written statement that you provide for the hearing may be used to incriminate you," states the letter, written by Deputy Chief Mike Olson.

Hendershott and Black were at-will employees of the Sheriff's Office, the letters note, and were subject to termination at any time.

Fox is a classified employee and he will have the chance to appeal any punishment the Sheriff's Office hands down.

The careers of Arpaio's top aides came under scrutiny on the heels of a scathing 63-page memo written by Deputy Chief Frank Munnell and made public in September. After Arpaio received the memo, Hendershott, Black and Fox were placed on leave while the Pinal County Sheriff's Office conducted an investigation into Munnell's allegations.

That investigation ended last week when Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu delivered to Arpaio a 1,022-page report detailing each accusation and the investigation's findings.

Arpaio said he would not release the report until he determined what punishment, if any, the commanders would face and the accused had a chance to review the findings.

Even though Arpaio fired Hendershott and Black, the sheriff's attorneys will not release the entire document until Fox has exhausted his employee-appeals process.

The memo that brought down Hendershott, the most powerful employee in Arpaio's agency, included detailed allegations of mismanagement and misconduct. It painted Black and Fox as Hendershott allies who benefited from a double standard of discipline and oversight.

The investigation was internal, not criminal, and if charges are warranted, a separate agency would have to conduct a criminal probe.

Arpaio's decision brings an end to two long and controversial careers in the Sheriff's Office.

Hendershott joined the Sheriff's Office in 1978, a year after Black, his schoolmate at Brophy College Prep, joined the agency.

The two steadily rose through the ranks of the Sheriff's Office and generally flew under the public radar until Hendershott retired in 1999 and was rehired soon after as a civilian employee collecting $120,000 in pay from the Sheriff's Office and $43,000 in annual retirement benefits.

The move was challenged, but ultimately was upheld in court, creating a precedent that troubles budget hawks and appeals to public employees to this day.

The move also ensconced Hendershott as Arpaio's Number Two, a position he would hold until Friday and one where sheriff's employees claim Hendershott consolidated power and developed a double-standard of discipline that rewarded his friends and punished those who crossed him.

The claims about Hendershott were regularly made by sheriff's employees and subsequently dismissed by Arpaio until Munnell's memo was made public last fall.

Munnell's document, which detailed years of alleged abuse and misconduct by Hendershott, also depicted Black and Fox as Hendershott lackeys who benefitted from the double-standard Hendershott used in day-to-day operations of the Sheriff's Office.

Among the allegations Munnell made:

- Hendershott, Black and Fox tried to obstruct justice, tamper with witnesses and destroy evidence after they learned the Arizona Attorney General's Office was investigating a political fund and its contributors. The day after state investigators seized computers and financial records from Fox's home in March 2009, Hendershott is alleged to have told Munnell in a closed-door meeting that Munnell likely would be questioned about the committee. "This conversation never happened," Hendershott began. Munnell recounted, "He told me 'not to freak out,' that I 'didn't have to talk to them,' and that I 'should have them see my lawyer.' " Later that evening, state investigators visited Munnell's home. Munnell was upset that Hendershott "told me not to cooperate with investigators when he clearly knew I would be interviewed for a criminal investigation," he wrote in his memo.

- Hendershott "willfully prevented" internal affairs from initiating investigations or disciplining his allies - specifically Fox and Black. Munnell recounted a 2005 controversy within the agency's SWAT team partly attributable to Fox. Although the internal affairs commander at the time recommended Fox be investigated for unprofessional behavior and lying, Hendershott did not discipline Fox. Instead, the chief deputy disbanded the entire unit.

- The Maricopa County Corruption Enforcement Unit, created in 2007 by Arpaio and former County Attorney Andrew Thomas to fight public corruption, instead conducted politically motivated investigations. He said the unit suffered poor morale and high turnover because of Hendershott's micromanagement. According to Munnell, Hendershott's "continual interference and constant pressure to rush investigations" was the reason high profile criminal investigations were ultimately dismissed or pleaded down. On March 19, 2009, Munnell alleged, Hendershott removed several detectives and commanders from the unit after they refused to write an illegal search warrant that he ordered to be served on several members of the county Board of Supervisors. After learning his subordinates refused to write the warrant, Hendershott reportedly said, "I'm fresh out of loyal guys, who am I going to get to do this?" Later that evening, Hendershott repeatedly called a lieutenant involved in the discussions and said that staff "better get on board," and then said he would "machine gun" every one of them.

Here are pdf files containing the letters send to Sheriff Joe's thugs when they were fired:

Letter firing David Hendershott

Letter firing Larry Black

Hendershott, Black - You can't fire us, we quit!

I suspect the only reason for them both resigning is so being fired won't be on their personal records.

But if you want to hear some cops shoveling the BS neck high read on.

Source

Hendershott, Arpaio's top aide, leaves post amid investigation

by JJ Hensley and Yvonne Wingett Sanchez - Apr. 28, 2011 12:00 AM

The Arizona Republic

David Hendershott, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's right-hand man, has resigned as chief deputy, but Arpaio on Wednesday continued to withhold details of the internal investigation into allegations of misconduct that led to his departure.

Arpaio on Wednesday accepted Hendershott's immediate resignation. He also accepted Deputy Chief Larry Black's resignation effective May 3. Both men were told they would otherwise be fired.

Hendershott's departure marks a turning point in the six-month investigation into allegations of abuse of power, nepotism, intimidation and policy violations by top agency officials. The allegations were made by another top officer in September, and the resignations are the first tangible sign that there was substance to at least some of them.

The findings of the probe, led by Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu, not only resulted in Wednesday's resignations, but led Babeu to recommend policy changes in Arpaio's agency, Babeu told The Arizona Republic and 12 News on Wednesday.

Hendershott declined to comment.

In a defiant yet sentimental letter to his longtime boss, however, Hendershott told Arpaio he questioned the credibility of the investigation. He commended Arpaio on his leadership and bemoaned the negative publicity the investigation has brought to the Sheriff's Office.

"The report by Sheriff Babeu and the outside investigation company is unfortunately littered with hundred of flaws, misstates facts and ignores motives and conflicts. I wholeheartedly do not agree with the sustained findings in the investigation. . . . My biggest regret will be that I no longer will work with you. You are a gentleman that is wise, cunning and probably the most honest and dedicated politician I have ever know(n)."

Babeu stood by the probe's findings Wednesday but declined to discuss details pending permission from attorneys.

"Obviously, his criticism about the report is expected," Babeu said. "He fully expected to return back to work. This involves the highest levels of command. The last thing I would do is compromise an investigation for anybody - our integrity is on the line." Scapegoat for sheriff?

David Berman, a research fellow at Arizona State University's Morrison Institute for Public Policy, suggested Hendershott's resignation provided a political "scapegoat for Arpaio after years of headlines about failed investigations into public officials.

"He's been the focal point of a lot of bad attention," Berman said. "And he's found a scapegoat here. He can say, 'I was badly served by this fellow.' It's sort of blame-shifting, but at the same time, taking charge, and showing you've seen the errors of surrounding yourself with the wrong people."

Arpaio would not answer detailed questions about Babeu's probe, nor would he release Babeu's 1,022-page report until Black and Hendershott have had reasonable time to review it. The Arizona Republic and 12 News on Tuesday filed a special action in Superior Court asking a judge to order its public release.

Last week, after receiving the findings of Babeu's investigation, Arpaio's office sent Hendershott and Black letters saying they would be terminated effective May 5. On Tuesday night, Hendershott e-mailed what he termed a retirement notice to County Attorney Bill Montgomery, asking that it be effective May 4. Arpaio's office responded Wednesday by accepting his "immediate resignation" and retirement. It also shortened Black's employment to May 3.

The employment status of a third sheriff's employee, Capt. Joel Fox, remained unclear, although a sheriff's official said Fox was notified that Babeu's investigation found policy violations. Those violations could draw punishments ranging from suspension to termination.

Memo set off inquiry

Babeu's investigation was triggered by a 63-page internal memo written by Deputy Chief Frank Munnell. That memo detailed questionable behavior among sheriff's employees and said Hendershott's conduct jeopardized the stability of Arpaio's agency. Munnell alleged that Hendershott pressured subordinates on a corruption task force to write a questionable search warrant, and then threatened to "machine gun" them if they refused.

Munnell also asserted that Hendershott retaliated against those who acted against him and protected those who remained loyal. He said Arpaio had yielded day-to-day operations of the Sheriff's Office to Hendershott, who used the position to get what he wanted through intimidation.

Babeu said in an interview that a team of investigators worked over six months to substantiate claims from those who witnessed events. Some of Munnell's allegations were true, some were not.

"We had to get firsthand accounts, not just somebody's opinion or what they heard," Babeu said. "We had to get to the crux of 'Where did this come from? Did this really happen?' Some of them never happened, and some actually did happen and were quite alarming."

Babeu said his investigation focused solely on administrative policies. It did not concentrate on criminal allegations, though he said parts of his investigation could be used by other law-enforcement agencies for criminal prosecution, if warranted.

"Any number of these allegations alone would trigger termination," he said, adding that the findings are "substantial, and it's the fact that these people were put in great positions of authority and trust, and they abused that trust."

Babeu said he recommended Hendershott and Black immediately be fired. It is unclear which accusations led to their departures.

Babeu would not answer questions about his recommendation for Fox, because Fox is protected by county merit rules. Babeu would only say, "There needs to be a complete reorganization."

Babeu said he attended direct examinations of the three men in question, and characterized their demeanor as sometimes defensive and emotional.

Hendershott was often depicted as the architect of Arpaio's policies and failed political-corruption investigations, and the cause of much discord epitomizing county government in recent years.

The U.S. Attorney's Office and the FBI also are examining allegations of abuse of power by the Sheriff's Office and former County Attorney Andrew Thomas' office, and Hendershott's role in them. Hendershott's finances also have come under scrutiny by the Internal Revenue Service, which has conducted interviews with federal agents.

Separately, Hendershott has been named personally and professionally in various lawsuits and notices of claim by judges and other county officials. They seek tens of millions of dollars as compensation for damages stemming from failed investigations.

In turn, Hendershott has filed a $14 million claim against the county, claiming loss of professional reputation and future earnings as a result of the legal fallout from the feuding among county officials.

Cops never lie! Honest! Swear to God! Ask Sheriff Joe's top cop David Hendershott. He will tell you it's impossible for cops to lie! Honest!

Source

Arpaio's top aide lied, tried to influence election, documents reveal

by JJ Hensley, Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Michael Kiefer - Apr. 28, 2011 03:55 PM

The Arizona Republic

David Hendershott, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's longtime chief deputy, engaged in immoral conduct and violated a range of office and county policies, according to 300 pages of heavily redacted documents from an internal investigation turned over Thursday to The Arizona Republic by Arpaio's office.

Violations cited in the documents included incompetence, lying, misuse of county resources and attempting to influence an election.

document The partial investigation completed by the Pinal County Sheriff's Office

However, the report also exonerated Hendershott of a variety of other misconduct allegations, including some involving posse finances. The documents said certain accusations remain unresolved.

The documents were just a portion of the 1,022-page report prepared by the Pinal County Sheriff's Office, which Arpaio asked to examine the misconduct allegations. Up until Thursday, Arpaio refused to release any portions of the report, citing legal concerns. The Republic and 12 News have filed a special action in Superior Court seeking release of the entire report.

Until Wednesday, Hendershott served for years at Arpaio's pleasure, running the day-to-day operations of the massive agency as its highest-paid employee. Hendershott resigned as second-in-command late Tuesday, however, after Arpaio sent him a termination letter effective May 5. Arpaio based that letter on findings in the Pinal County Sheriff's report.

The investigation into Hendershott and chief deputies Larry Black and Joel Fox was triggered by a memo written by another top Arpaio official, who alleged years-long mismanagement by Hendershott, who has been in the department's top echelon since the mid-1990s. Hendershott, Black and Fox were placed on paid administrative leave while under internal investigation for six months.

Black also resigned Wednesday. Fox remains on paid administrative leave pending a hearing about his employment.

Allegations that were examined in the probe include abuse of power, nepotism, intimidation, and policy violations by top agency officials. This week's resignations are the first tangible sign that there was substance to at least some of them.

Among the findings that were sustained by the report and found to violate Sheriff's Office policies:

• Hendersott stopped an internal affairs investigation into a Sheriff's Office captain who lied about being involved in a domestic incident. In 2009, the captain threw rocks at his wife's car, made offensive gestures at police and his wife, and sent an offensive message. He was prosecuted in Peoria for the conduct and paid a fine. But he lied to Peoria police about his actions, the report says, and Hendershott stopped an internal Sheriff's Office investigation.

• Hendershott used his position inappropriately and for personal gain. For example, the report notes, he used Sheriff's posse money to fund a trip for his son's baseball team. "This was a team, by Hendershott's own admission, that was not populated by underprivileged or at-risk youth, but rather serious youth baseball players (including one of his sons), who played in an 'extremely competitive' league that was 'all about winning,' " the report said. The team was sponsored by the posse, which provided uniforms and paid fees.

The team obtained a total of $25,000, including a grant of $18,000 from the MCSO posse and a loan of $7,000 from the Jeep Posse or the Posse Foundation, to put toward an eight-day trip to Alaska for a tournament.

Ultimately, this loan was forgiven after Hendershott sent another Sheriff's Office official to a board meeting to ask that repayment be waived. The costs for the team's 16 players' travel, as well as that of other children and coaches and chaperones - among them Hendershott and his wife - were paid through funds collected from the posses. "The preponderance of evidence gathered concerning this allegation reflects that Hendershott and his family were unjustly enriched by his position," the report said.

• Hendershott altered statistics regarding a Xheriff's program to help youth quit smoking. To make the program look more successful to the media, Hendershott "at least tripled the original statistics," the report said. When probed about the issue, Hendershott acknowledged it was possible he exaggerated the figures, saying, "Just for the sake of argument, who cares?"

• Hendershott was hostile toward Arpaio's chief financial officer, Loretta Barkell, over an e-mail she sent staff about furloughs, her lack of cooperation with attorneys representing the agency, and her contact with county officials and the media. According to the report, Hendershott "in essence ... attempted to place her under his thumb, and arguably made significant negative changes in the conditions of her employment."

• Hendershott stopped an internal affairs investigation into misconduct of sex-crimes investigators working cases for the El Mirage Police Department. The El Mirage police chief complained about the adequacy of the Sheriff's Office's sex crimes investigations over several years. An internal investigation began in 2008, but Hendershott stopped it in 2009.

• Hendershott abused his position or authority and his use of discretion because he arranged for a friend to be hired as a transcriptionist at the Sheriff's Office. According to another employee, "The mandate from Hendershott was to make it happen" and to get the friend "on board as an employee." Hendershott set up "extraordinary" employment conditions for the friend, which included "never coming into the office." She was never required to fill out time sheets, and in the more than three years that she was employed, she did not take a single day of any form of sick or vacation time. According to witnesses, the employee's work was dogged by frequent mistakes and other quality issues.

I usually disagree with ex-Mesa cop Bill Richardson but in this case he is right!

Source

Arpaio pinches pennies, but wastes millions

Posted: Friday, April 29, 2011 3:30 am

By Bill Richardson, guest commentary East Valley Tribune

Since 1993 we've been entertained by Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and his unapologetic and relentless spending of our tax dollars on his pet publicity projects.

Never one to shy away from a camera, his TV presence seems to increase when there's a hint of bad press coming. A couple of weeks ago the sheriff announced his deputies arrested six women at a Mesa laundromat on petty immigration violations and using someone else's name to get a job. The arrest of this pack of nefarious criminals required Arpaio to rush right out and hold a press conference.

While Arpaio was taking bows for the cameras that follow him a like a caboose does a train, the sheriff's interim chief deputy, Jerry Sheridan, was trying to explain to the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors how MCSO misused nearly $99.5 million in tax dollars. According to the sheriff's latest designated hitter, the missing millions were due to a bookkeeping error.

Arpaio has historically used his underlings to stand tall in front of the Board of Supervisors when hard questions are being asked and answers demanded in public hearings.

The missing $100 million would just about cover the cost for policing in Gilbert for three years. Gilbert's annual police budget is $36 million.

The millions in question are part of the over $1 billion in supplemental funds that taxpayers voted in 1998 to give Arpaio to run county jails. Since 1999 there has been an added 1/5 of a cent to the sales tax in Maricopa County. The taxpayer handout is scheduled to continue until 2022.

The money was to be used for the jails only, but MCSO reportedly used the cash to pay salaries of non-jail personnel. County officials allege the Sheriff's Office intentionally misappropriated the funds and said the agency tried to maintain staffing levels by using money that was not legally available.

Arpaio's office is well known for its bloated command staff of double- and triple-dippers, his presidential-like security detail and media production unit. Questions still remain about Arpaio deputies' trips to a Honduran beach resort to purportedly study an El Salvadoran gang and train Honduran police. And don't forget the sheriff's half-million dollar paddy wagon that he purchased without proper approval.

While Arpaio's inner circle is filled to capacity and pet projects are funded, understaffing in the jails led to serious prisoner transport and court security problems. One convicted child rapist escaped from custody during a trial and has yet to be captured.

County officials want the misspent detention funds to be paid back, and it might have to come from the county's general fund - which could affect other agencies already feeling the pinch of budget cuts.

When Arpaio was begging taxpayers for more money in 1998, he was also boasting about feeding inmates green bologna for pennies a day and housing prisoners in free army surplus tents.

On top of the extra income from the jail tax, Arpaio has raked in millions by raising costs to cities to book and house prisoners. From 2002 to 2007, county jail charges to cities were increased by 88 percent. MCSO charges $188.48 to book and $73.54 per day to house. East Valley cities reportedly paid Arpaio $15.5 million in 2009 to handle misdemeanor prisoners. It only costs the Arizona Department of Corrections $46.59 per day to house a minimum-security convicted felon.

To compound the increased costs to cities, in 2007 Arpaio closed the county's satellite jails in the East and West valleys. Now city police officers have to drive to downtown Phoenix to book prisoners.

The sheriff has it real good when it comes to taking our tax dollars, then taxing us again by increasing costs to cities.

Arpaio is a self-promoted penny pincher on one hand and your typical tax-and-spend elected official on the other.

• Retired Mesa master police officer Bill Richardson lives in the East Valley and can be reached at bill.richardson@cox.net.

So this is what a "good cop" does?

Source

Hendershott report raises question: where was Joe Arpaio?

It's the Fiesta Bowl all over again, with Dave Hendershott starring as John Junker and Joe Arpaio reprising the role of the allegedly clueless Board of Directors.

Only it's worse, because what's long been going on in the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office involves threats and intimidation as well as the standard startling sense of entitlement and arrogance. And it comes from an office entrusted with immense power to carry out the law -- not a vendetta, not a witch hunt and most certainly not free cell phones, junkets and jobs for your various relatives and friends.

The first wave of records in a six-month administrative investigation into the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office is out and it is stunning stuff. The report, by the Pinal County Sheriff's Office, paints now-ex Maricopa County Chief Deputy Dave Hendershott as a scheming, conniving, intimidating, lying operator.

Think Dr. Evil meets Barney Fife. A guy who was obsessed with going after the sheriff's enemies and throwing around his considerable political weight – because he could.

Which brings us to his boss.

The always-available-for-comment sheriff has been thus far silent on what his chief deputy has been up. A spokesman told me Friday that he'll have a press conference next week.

No doubt, Arpaio will say that he didn't know what was going on in his own office. If so, the obvious response is this:

Why didn't he know? Why didn't the many people in the sheriff's office who did know what was going on – people in Arpaio's own command staff – tell him? And if they didn't feel they could tell him, what kind of operation has Arpaio been running?

Where was America's Toughest Sheriff and why wasn't he riding herd on Maricopa County's Scariest Chief Deputy?

Hendershott has thus far declined to comment, though in his letter of resignation this week, he questioned the credibility of the investigation which he said was riddled with flaws.

An investigation that found Hendershott:

--Was so obsessed with investigating county officials and judges that he “exercised virtually complete control” over the sheriff's anti-corruption unit. He alone decided who should be investigated and what questions should be asked and he staffed the unit with inexperienced officers when seasoned investigators balked at his instructions. While there was no money to pay overtime to investigate murders and other crimes, he authorized 13 detectives to rack up nearly $125,000 in overtime pay in four weeks to pour through 120,000 e-mails related to Chicanos Por La Causa. Their job: to look for certain words.

Hendershott made “clearly unreasonable, if unfathomable, requests” of investigators -- like ordering a lieutenant to write an affidavit justifying a warrant to search the Board of Supervisors offices after it was swept for sheriff's bugs. Hendershott's justification: the supervisors would have destroyed county property if they'd destroyed the bugs – bugs that Hendershott knew didn't exist because he hadn't bugged the supervisors in the first place. When the lieutenant repeatedly refused to write the warrant, on grounds that there was no probable cause to believe a crime had been committed, Hendershott reportedly replied, “I've run out of loyal guys” and vowed to “machine gun” him out of the unit.

--- Managed to get jobs in the sheriff's office for nine of his relatives and friends, including two sons, the husband of his sister-in-law, his wife's former assistant, and some guy whose daughter was dating his son. Hendershott did nothing wrong, according to county policy, which in itself is galling. It was apparently well known within county ranks when Hendershott wanted his relatives and friends on the sheriff's payroll. “Friends of Dave” they were called.

“You would be called down to the Chief Deputy's Office and he would hand you a resume and say, what do you have and how can you make it happen quickly,” Loretta Barkell, the sheriff's chief financial officer, told investigators.

-- Made arrangements to hire a neighbor full time to transcribe audio tapes under what investigators called “extraordinary employment conditions.” She never had to come to the office. Instead, lieutenants would deliver the tapes to her house, leaving them in her garage, and picking up earlier transcribed work along with small tokens of appreciation for Hendershott. During her more than three years on the job, investigators calculate she did 13 weeks of work– much of it subpar. At review time, Hendershott would call her supervisors to his office and ask them to “take care of her.”

-- Pressured Verizon into telling his mortgage company that late payments on his personal account were not his fault. This, in order to improve his credit rating as he was seeking a new mortgage. A now-former Verizon employee who handled the MCSO account told investigators that he was called to Hendershott's office in 1999 and told “You know, we (MCSO) have a lot of phones with you – we want to keep the phones there, right?”

Riiiight. Verizon wrote the letter. It also gave Hendershott and his family free cell phones for several years and treated him to eight to 10 Suns games and concerts in Verizon suite at US Airways Arena.

--- Participated along with his wife in an eight-day trip to Alaska for his son's baseball tournament. The trip was financed with $25,000 in donations to the sheriff's posse, which sponsored the team. There are plenty of other eye poppers in the 280 pages released this week. There are verbal tirades and a report that Hendershott flat-out faked statistics in a 1997 sting operation. There was the campaign contributor ferried by sheriff's helicopter to fire machine guns at the shooting range and instructions to deputies to spy on the sheriff's campaign opponents.

Threaded throughout is a pattern of intimidation by a man who brooked no dissent. As one administrative assistant told a Pinal County investigator, “If you crossed him you were done.”

Perhaps the most troubling findings were buried deep in the report.

--- That six to eight years ago Hendershott ago ordered the command staff not to bring controversial issues to Arpaio's attention during staff meetings. Then in 2010, he decreed that any matter they or their staffs wanted to discuss with the sheriff first had to be presented to Hendershott in a memo.

Investigators said the “No Controversy” and “Memo First” rules were news to Arpaio.

If Arpaio was in the dark all these years, I have to wonder why.

Why wouldn't his senior staff tell him what was really going on? Were they too intimidated to tell the boss what he needed to know?

Or did they just know that it wouldn't make a difference?

Don't blame me for my crooked staff. It was all Hendershott's fault! I am God and it is impossible for me to do anything wrong.

I suspect Sheriff Joe loves the American murder of bin Laden. It takes all the publicity away from his goons. So this is a great time to announce the replacements because nobody is listening to news about Sheriff Joe.

Source

Arpaio names new No. 2; fired aides 'let me down'

by JJ Hensley, Michelle Ye Hee Lee and Yvonne Wingett Sanchez - May. 3, 2011 02:12 PM

The Arizona Republic

Sheriff Joe Arpaio on Tuesday announced a permanent replacement for the No. 2 in command at the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office but said he will not fill any vacancies to save the department about half a million dollars.

Arpaio said Jerry Sheridan will be permanently chief deputy. Sheridan had been named to the interim job after former Chief Deputy David Hendershott and two other top aides were fired following an internal investigation.

The investigation was conducted by Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu at Arpaio's request.

Arpaio said he has learned from the episode that "I will never again be sheltered from my command staff by an overbearing chief deputy." However, the sheriff said Hendershott and "he alone was responsible" for any abuse of power or department violations. [As I say blame it all on Hendershott. Of course if Sheriff Joe was the worlds bets manager as he claims this would have never happened]

Asked how he felt about firing a personal friend, Arpaio snapped, "The only personal friend I have is my wife of 54 years." [I suspect even Hendershott thinks Sheriff Joe is an asshole! But of course if Hendershott was his best buddy, Sheriff Joe is certainly aware of his crimes, and probably was involved in them too]

The sheriff also said he will hire an outside consultant to review the office's internal affairs.

Of the three longtime aides, Arpaio said he trusted them to uphold the law and "they let me down."

The sheriff acknowledged that he should have paid closer attention to his administration. [What! I though Sheriff Joe claimed to be God and never made mistakes?]

"I have made mistakes, I have rectified the mistakes, and we're going to move forward," Arpaio said. [Translation - I f*cked up. Time to cover my butt and blame Hendershott so I can get reelected]

He reacted heatedly at one reporter's question about whether he would resign, noting that his department isn't the only law enforcement agency with problems.

"Nobody's gonna intimidate this sheriff by making tough decisions," Arpaio said.

In addition to Sheridan, Arpaio named Brian Sands as the department's chief of patrol, Scott Freeman as chief of business operations, and Mike Olson as director of detention. Arpaio said that Chief Financial Officer Loretta Barkell has been resigned.

At the offset of an ongoing press conference, Arpaio's office said the sheriff would not be answering questions about the firings or the investigation. He will defer to Babeu, who has a separate conference planned at about 3:30 p.m.

Hendershott was terminated last week after more than 30 years with the Sheriff's Office following Babeu's investigation which found that Hendershott lied, used the Sheriff's Office for personal gain and mistreated sheriff's employees.

Larry Black, a former Arpaio deputy chief, was dismissed effective Tuesday.

The Sheriff's Office has not yet release a report detailing the reasons for Black's dismissal, nor has the office offered any indication on what will come of Capt. Joel Fox, the third Sheriff's commander placed on leave as part of Babeu's investigation.

Like Arpaio, Babeu also has declined to discuss in detail the specifics of his investigation. Babeu will address the press at the state Capitol.

During an interview last week with The Arizona Republic, Babeu stated, "Any number of these allegations would stand alone and trigger termination for some of these employees. These people were put in great positions of authority and trust, and they abused that trust. [That putting it mildly. They are criminals who should be in prison!]

"The next issues that are raised and often asked is, 'Well, what did the Sheriff know, and at what time? And in the end, is he responsible?' Well, of course, in the end, he is the Sheriff and he's responsible for his very large organization." [Sheriff Joe - I know nothing! It was all Hendershott's fault!]

Asked if criminal charges could arise from his investigation, Babeu responded that the U.S. Attorney's Office, which is examining Munnell's allegations as part of a criminal abuse-of-power probe into the Sheriff's Office, "(They) could proceed aggressively, or say, 'Look, a lot of these issues have been mitigated because of the fact that these people are now removed, they've been terminated.' " [Don't hold your breath for Federal charges. Obama wants to get reelected in 2012 and he certainly won's piss off the most powerful politician in Arizona by arresting his criminal partners and thugs]

Babeu's investigation began in September after another of Arpaio's deputy chiefs, Frank Munnell, wrote a detailed memo accusing Hendershott, Black and Fox of mismanagement.

Hendershott ran the day-to-day operations of the Sheriff's Office for more than a decade, and was also personally involved in Arpaio's campaigns.

In recent years, Hendershott often served as the driving force behind the Sheriff's Office's ongoing feud with Maricopa County management.

Since Hendershott was placed on administrative leave as part of the investigation, Sheridan has served as Arpaio's interim chief deputy and worked to resolve the Sheriff's disputes with county administrators when possible.

Arpaio is expected to announce Hendershott's replacement and other changes in his management team at the Tuesday afternoon news conference, in addition to answering questions for the first time about his three deposed commanders.

Source

May. 3, 2011 3:55 PM ET

Lawyers say focus on race infected Arpaio's sweeps

JACQUES BILLEAUD, Associated Press THE ASSOCIATED PRESS STATEMENT OF NEWS VALUES AND PRINCIPLES

PHOENIX (AP) — Records released in a lawsuit alleging racial profiling in immigration patrols conducted in Arizona's Maricopa County show that some sheriff's deputies circulated emails that repeated stereotypes about Mexicans.

Lawyers for the handful of Latinos who filed the lawsuit also zeroed in on Sheriff Joe Arpaio in a flurry of filings late last week.

They say Arpaio's immigration file contained letters from people calling for racial profiling and that the sheriff passed along the letters to some of his top managers, including an official in charge of selecting the location of his immigration patrols known as sweeps.

The sheriff's office says people pulled over in the sweeps were approached because deputies had probable cause to believe they had violated a law.