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

Maricopa County sheriff says his department eliminated racial bias. Data shows otherwise.

This article was produced for ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network in partnership with Arizona Luminaria. Sign up for Dispatches to get ProPublica stories in your inbox every week. In one talk radio appearance after another, Sheriff Jerry Sheridan has declared that his department had eliminated the racial bias that plagued it under his former boss Joe Arpaio. As a result, he’s quick to add, a landmark racial profiling court case dictating much o…

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

When Jerry Sheridan was second-in-command at the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, a federal judge found he had undermined reforms meant to root out racial profiling. Now, as head of the department, Sheridan is pushing to end the court’s oversight.