This Sheriff Says His Department Eliminated Racial Bias. Data Shows Otherwise.

Sheriff Jerry Sheridan of Maricopa County, Arizona, has repeatedly claimed his department eliminated racial bias and should be released from oversight under the 2013 Melendres v. Arpaio settlement, but annual reports reviewing every traffic stop or arrest of Latino drivers show disparities in nine of the past ten years, with the 2024 report finding Hispanic drivers more likely to be arrested than White drivers during traffic stops. Sheridan, who was chief deputy under Joe Arpaio when the department illegally used traffic stops to target immigrants, bases his compliance argument on a small monthly sample of traffic stops that showed no racial bias, contradicting the comprehensive annual data. Community activists who mobilized during Arpaio's era are tracking Sheridan's first year as sheriff with alarm, noting he filled key leadership positions with former Arpaio-era officials and took office as President Trump initiated plans for mass deportations, fearing an ended lawsuit could free the department to resume immigration enforcement without court oversight. At a February 2025 court-mandated community meeting in Guadalupe—a town repeatedly targeted by immigration sweeps—residents held signs saying "Deport Jerry Sheridan" while the court-appointed monitor reported the department was complying with over 90% of the settlement but falling short in two critical areas: continued racial disparities in traffic stops and slow investigations of deputy misconduct complaints. Sheridan pledged to demonstrate change through actions, but activist Joel Cornejo warned he would face the same organized opposition that ended Arpaio's career if he targeted the community.