"Phoenix, Arizona. March 29, 2008 - The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office (MCSO) led by Sheriff Joe Arpaio conducted what they called the ""Bell Road Crime Suppression,"" a two-day operation consisting of saturation patrol in the area of Bell Road and Cave Creek Road, in north Phoenix. According to MCSO, during the two-day crime suppression operation, sheriff's deputies and posse members arrested a total of 53 suspects who were taken into custody, 27 of which were reportedly illegally in the country. The remaining 26 arrests were U.S. citizens. The MCSO set their command center in the parking lot of a strip mall. People from the surrounding community, immigration advocates and organizers protested the sheriff's operation around the perimeter restricted by MCSO by yelling and display signs with a variety of messages against MCSO and Arpaio. Supporters of Sheriff Arpaio were also present at the protest. Both groups of protesters engaged in verbal confrontations. For activists, MCSO's ""crime suppression"" operations are nothing but ""immigration raids,"" where according to immigrant's advocates MCSO posse members and sheriff deputies engage in racial profiling to target and stop Latino motorists based on physical appearance features such as brown skin. Photo by Eduardo Barraza © 2008"
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