A small but decidedly supportive audience in Fountain Hills listened patiently as Sheriff’s Capt. Joe Rodriquez read a seven-page statement at a meeting occurring simultaneously at all Maricopa County Sheriff’s patrol districts Saturday morning, Dec. 21.

The statement was essentially the purpose for the meeting called by Sheriff’s Officials to fulfill part of a court-ordered remedy in a lawsuit that found MCSO had violated the civil rights of Latino suspects.

A judge has found that Sheriff Joe Arpaio and his office violated the Fourth and 14th Amendment Constitutional rights of Latinos who deputies believed might be in the country illegally.

While the ruling is being appealed to the Federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the Sheriff’s Office is moving forward to implement ordered remedies.

The seven-page statement read by officials outlined the history and purpose of the decisions, the steps that have already been taken to implement new policies and procedures and what steps have yet to be taken.

Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Jerry Sheridan was on hand at the meeting in Fountain Hills to respond to questions and offer official perspective on the plan.

Sheridan said MCSO has a one-time outlay of about $6 million to provide the physical necessities to comply with the court order.

He said it will cost about $10 million annually to maintain the infrastructure and training and oversight called for by the court.

Much of the one-time costs are related to technical upgrades to data collection equipment to better monitor traffic stops and citations.

This equipment is for both patrol vehicles and desktop computers. Ongoing costs will include training and overtime to offset training time. There will also be costs for permanent oversight personnel.

Sheridan said MCSO believes most of the steps are a good thing, particularly the training and monitoring, as MCSO attempts to move toward a better relationship with the Latino population in Maricopa County.

A Latino man from Mesa in the audience, who said he is a naturalized citizen, voiced some concerns and also expressed support for some actions taken by MCSO.

There are many Latino people in the county who are supportive of the sheriff’s policies, according to Sheridan. Arpaio’s emphasis and focus has always been on enforcement of the law, he said.

Sheridan said there is, however, a group of Latino activists who are unwilling to have any discussion with the Sheriff’s Office.

He added that he believes they have no interest in having a useful dialogue with MCSO.