Judge names monitor to oversee Arizona sheriff in profiling case

BY DAVID SCHWARTZ
PHOENIX Fri Jan 17, 2014 6:16pm EST

(Reuters) - A veteran lawman who oversees embattled police departments in Detroit and Oakland was appointed on Friday to monitor the operations of a controversial Arizona sheriff whose deputies had racially profiled Latino drivers.

Robert Warshaw, a former police chief in New York and North Carolina, was appointed by a federal judge to enforce a sweeping court order against Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, a prominent but divisive figure in the national debate on immigration reform.

A federal judge ordered Arpaio in May to stop using race when making law enforcement decisions, in response to a lawsuit that tested whether police could target unauthorized immigrants without profiling U.S. citizens and legal residents of Hispanic origin.

The resolution of that case requires that a court monitor be appointed to oversee the work of Arpaio, who calls himself "America's toughest sheriff."

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