Russ Skinner was recently appointed sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona.Maricopa County SO
Recently appointed Maricopa County, Arizona, Sheriff Russ Skinner wants to advance initiatives related to the agency's compliance with court-ordered reforms, he said Tuesday in a news conference, his first since stepping into the role.
"I'm committed to making sure that we continue to move the needle forward with the requirements of that court order," Skinner said of mandates stemming from a racial profiling lawsuit, AZCentral.com reports.
He said he recently had a productive meeting with the court-appointed monitor and pledged to keep open lines of communication with the monitoring team, the judge and the case's community advisory board.
The Melendres case began in 2008 when Latino drivers sued the Maricopa Sheriff's Office under former Sheriff Joe Arpaio, alleging they were racially profiled. U.S. District Court Judge G. Murray Snow agreed and, in 2013, issued his first order mandating court oversight over the sheriff's office.
Sheriff Paul Penzone inherited the lawsuit and its resulting mandates when he took office in 2017 after defeating Arpaio. Penzone said the continued judicial oversight was hampering his ability to tackle what he perceived to be more important public safety issues.
