Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio appeared in an Arizona court on Tuesday for a hearing to face civil contempt-of-court charges.

The hearing was set to examine if the notorious sheriff should be held in contempt of court for violating a December 2011 pretrial injunction that prohibited his officers from racially profiling Latinos in the state and detaining people who were assumed to be undocumented.

According to U.S. District Judge Murray Snow, Arpaio's top aides failed to tell rank-and-file members of his immigrant smuggling squad about the ruling. As a result, the officers continue to operate business as usual and violated the order for a year and a half.

On Tuesday, Arpaio faced Judge Snow in a crowded courtroom that included immigrant rights activists and critics.

"He has been trying to get out of this desperately," Alessandra Soler, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona, told the Los Angeles Times on Tuesday -- the first of a four-day civil proceeding. "He has been hiding behind the badge, and that's why it is very, very important to have a public trial."

A supervisor who developed training materials to address the injunction after the judge barred the agency from executing immigration patrols also gave testimony on Tuesday. While on the stand, he admitted that the training never took place. Instead, the sheriff's office continued to do immigration enforcement over the next 18 months.

When asked why the training never happened, Sgt. Brett Palmer told the court that "It was contrary to the goals and objectives of the sheriff," reports The Associated Press.

He added that he was ordered "to make the sheriff look good to the media and the public."

Palmer went on to testify that Arpaio wanted to put up roadblocks to catch undocumented immigrants. However, Palmer said that he told Arpaio that the roadblocks were a bad idea, and Arpaio never moved forward with the idea.

Arpaio, who calls himself "America's Toughest Sheriff," is not expected to testify in the proceedings.