Phoenix police raided the home of Jeff Pataky recently, a blogger who has been highly critical of the Phoenix police department. Stories like this make you realize that First Amendment rights aren't something Americans should ever take for granted.

Pataky who runs a site named Bad Phoenix Cops, said that police confiscated three computers, routers, modems, hard drives and memory cards. He also says that personal files and documents were taken that relate to an upcoming lawsuit he has against the department alleging harassment.

Pataky was away when the raid occurred. His female roommate, the only one home, was reportedly handcuffed for three hours while the cops ransacked the place. Police reportedly broke into his safe and took 'backups-of-backups'.

The search warrant lists "petty theft" and "computer tampering with the intent to harass" as probable causes. Pataky has yet to see the affidavit that lists the probable cause, and says he is dubious that one even exists.

This appears to be a targeted raid that has bearing on Pataky's blogging and criticism of Phoenix police. In the course of addressing matters of police corruption, he says he has received many inside tips from cops who have passed on internal documents and other information. Pataky says the number of "active cops" who pass along information is between 50 and 100.

There have been extensive reports of problems with policing in Arizona over the years, a lot of them centering on the sometimes bizarre activities of Maricopa Sheriff, Joe Arpaio.

Sheriff Arpaio has repeatedly demonstrated disregard for the rights of Hispanics in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Under the guise of immigration enforcement, his staff has conducted raids in residential neighborhoods in a manner condemned by the community as racial profiling. On February 4, 2009, Arpaio invited the media to view the transfer of immigrant detainees to a segregated area of his "tent city" jail, subjecting the detainees to public display and "ritual humiliation." Persistent actions such as these have resulted in numerous lawsuits; while Arpaio spends time and energy on publicity and his reality television show, "Smile… You're Under Arrest!", Maricopa County has paid millions of dollars in settlements involving dead or injured inmates.

Arpaio has abused his powers in order to pursue personal vendettas. In October 2007, his deputies arrested Village Voice Media executives and Phoenix New Times editors, Michael Lacey and Jim Larkin on charges of revealing grand jury secrets. The trumped-up charges were dismissed.

The Phoenix New Times published a piece titled Arpaio's war on people with brown skin that is worth the read - link here.

There are clearly serious problems with policing in some jurisdictions in Arizona.

Jeff Pataky, not a man to quit, has purchased a new laptop, and is back blogging. He said of the raid: “They thought they were going to scare us into a corner but they just made us stronger.”