Taxpayers have spent hundreds of millions of dollars in long-term racial profiling lawsuits against the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office.

The court-appointed agency monitor hopes to hear people’s current thoughts on the sheriff’s office at a scheduled meeting at Sunnyslope Community Center at 6:30pm on Wednesday.

Raul Piña is a longtime member of independent compliance oversight.

He said he should learn about the history of the incident that was launched against former sheriff Joe Arpaio about the traffic stop of Manuel de Jesus Ortega Mellendres.

“I think Melendores is especially important right now in this massive deportation environment,” Piña said.

A spokesperson says Sheriff Jerry Sheridan, former Chief Deputy Director of Arpaio, will be at the meeting.

Sheridan made a last-minute request to postpone a similar meeting in Guadalupe on the expected protests, but was denied.

Piña said the move by Sheridan did not build community trust.

“The feeling we’re getting now is like we’re still waiting. See how things evolve. Watch with the sheriff as we see how things develop.”

Piña recently told Kjzz’s show that sheriff’s office still doesn’t have a commitment to achieving court-order reforms.