MCSO ordered to eliminate internal investigation backlog; here’s how long it’ll take

PHOENIX (AZFamily) — A federal judge has ordered the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office to address its massive internal investigation backlog and outlined a plan to ensure it gets done.

It stems from a lawsuit over a decade ago and has cost taxpayers nearly $279 million. The order will likely cost taxpayers even more money.

In an 11-page federal court order, U.S. District Judge Murray Snow lays out the department’s plan to eliminate the backlog of internal affairs investigations.

At the end of July, the department said it had more than 1,300 open cases, 40% of which were more than four years old.

For perspective, the sheriff’s office is supposed to investigate a case within 60 days.

“What I’m seeing in these words from the judge is quite a bit of frustration,” said Emily Gunston, a former U.S. Department of Justice attorney. “Having an effective accountability system is a critical piece of having a constitutional police department. If policies are not enforced, they’re just words on paper.”

Gunston has worked on cases like the one in Maricopa County.

“It creates a terrible problem for the community when the community feels that they saw something happen, they reported it to their sheriff’s office about misconduct about an officer and the sheriff’s office does nothing,” she explained.

The order dates back to 2008 when a group of Latinos sued then-Sheriff Joe Arpaio and the department on allegations of racial profiling.

Judge Snow agreed, ordering a federal monitor in 2013 to oversee deputies and department procedures reforms.

At the end of August, taxpayers spent over $320 million to help the department come into compliance. The internal investigation backlog is a part of it.

“We look at this as a win, win for all the parties involved,” said Christine Wee, an attorney with the ACLU who represents the plaintiffs and supports the order.

It triples the amount of time MCSO has to investigate each internal affairs case. Beginning in October, the department must reduce the backlog by 45 cases each month, a number that’ll increase each quarter until it reaches 60.

“We’re hopeful now there’s more clarity on what needs to be done moving forward, and so we are definitely hopeful that this can be accomplished,” Wee said.

The order also comes with penalties if MCSO doesn’t clear a certain number of cases within a certain timeframe. The DOJ could fine the department, and that money would go to hire more investigators.

“I have not seen a court order quite like this before. It’s quite a creative solution,” Gunston said.

In addition, MCSO will also have to hire an additional ten investigators to handle these cases by the end of the year.

If all goes as planned, the department’s backlog will be eliminated by March 31, 2026.

An early version of this story said the costs associated with Melendres topped $320 million. After the story was published, the county reached out with a revised spreadsheet. They said the total costs were actually $41 million less, citing a formula error in the previous spreadsheet.

At the last hearing, Judge Snow asked the county to provide more details on how this money is being spent.

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