Arizona's Maricopa County is always good for an interesting story. The Sheriff, Joe Arapio is quite colorful and has been known to not be that careful as to which side of the law he walks on.
The could use a little bit of remedial computer education. From AZ Central:
County officials recover data destroyed by Sheriff's Officials in profiling caseThis is the same kind of politically correct stupidity that makes airline travel such fun. If your enemy is Middle-Eastern men in their teens to mid-30's, don't stop and search my Grandma. The Sheriff's Department is enforcing Federal Immigration laws -- the people trying to illegally immigrate are Hispanics so searching for anyone else is a waste of time. There are almost 100 comments polarized between Go Joe! and how Arapaio is corrupt and should be run out of town.
Maricopa County�s information technology department has recovered information contained in e-mails destroyed by sheriff�s officials related to a racial-profiling lawsuit.
The Sheriff�s Office has acknowledged it destroyed records from its immigration sweeps and deleted e-mails among employees regarding those operations.
A federal judge last month imposed sanctions on the Sheriff�s Office for destroying the evidence. U.S. District Court Judge G. Murray Snow ordered the Sheriff�s Office to try to recover the deleted e-mails and swear under oath officials to steps to gather the records.
The Republic has learned the sheriff�s office recently contacted the Office of Enterprise Technology to see if the e-mails could be recovered. Sources said technology officials recovered e-mails dating back to the summer of 2008; it is unclear if all of the e-mails have been recovered, however.
County officials have made arrangements to give the data to attorneys representing the Sheriff's Office in the case.
The racial-profiling lawsuit was filed in December 2007 following a sheriff's crime-suppression operation in Cave Creek that included the arrest of Manuel de Jesus Ortega Melendres.
Melendres is seeking to stop what he calls "illegal, discriminatory and unauthorized enforcement of federal immigration laws against Hispanics in Maricopa County."
The case now includes five individuals who claim deputies have detained them because of the color of their skin, and their lawyers have sought records from the sheriff's crime-suppression operations.
The Sheriff's Office has denied it engages in racial profiling, but the office destroyed records from those sweeps and deleted e-mails among employees regarding those operations.
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