Cops don’t want to be junior Border Patrol agents (except in Maricopa County)
by Hugh Holub on Mar. 04, 2011, under border issues, border patrol, politics, SB 1070The New York Times reports that the Police Executive Research Forum has some real issues with laws like Arizona’s SB 1070 which attempts to turn local law enforcement agencies into immigration law enforcement outfits…junior Border Patrol agents.
Police Chiefs Wary of Immigration Role
As many state legislatures consider laws to expand the role of local police departments in immigration control, police chiefs across the country say they are reluctant to take on these tasks and want clear lines drawn between local crime-fighting and federal immigration enforcement, according to a new report by a police research group.
Dozens of police department commanders who participated in the report recommended that local officers should be explicitly prohibited from arresting people solely because of their immigration status, and should have orders to protect victims and witnesses regardless of that status.
The report, issued on Thursday by the Police Executive Research Forum, cites worries among police chiefs that if they are pulled into immigration enforcement, a job that was limited until recently to federal agents, their ties to immigrant communities will be eroded, with the result that crimes would not be reported and witnesses would be afraid to cooperate in investigations.
The Police Executive Research Forum issued a report about Police and Immigration and had the following recommendations from a summit conference:
Immigration Summit Participants’ Recommendations
For the Administration and Congress
1. United States borders should be made more secure, not only in terms of preventing illegal immigration, but also in preventing the illegal trafficking of drugs and firearms.
2. Federal agencies and the Congress should consult with state and local police agencies as they craft immigration policies and legislation. The inclusion of local law enforcement in the policy-making process will result in more realistic, practical and informed policies that have the support of local communities.
3. The motivation for involving local police agencies with the federal agencies that are charged with immigration enforcement should be to improve public safety and information-sharing among all law enforcement agencies
4. National comprehensive immigration reform legislation should not be delayed any longer. New legislation should include provisions regarding guest workers, provision of permanent legal status, and employer and family-based visa systems.
5. Improvements should be made to ensure tamper-proof identification and work authorization documents for persons allowed into the country
6. Recognizing the federal government’s recent shift in emphasis regarding the enforcement of illegal immigration law in the employment arena, with less attention to worker violations and greater attention to employers who cultivate illegal workforces, there should be comprehensive plans and setting of priorities for enforcement in this area. Local police should be consulted prior to major enforcement actions in their communities and should be informed about arrests in their communities.
7. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) should increase its coordination with and responsiveness to local police agencies. ICE officials should be more visible in communities to explain their policies and actions and should be available when local police request assistance.
8. The authority of local police agencies and their officers to become involved in the enforcement of federal immigration laws, and limitations on that authority, should be clearly defined.
9. Stricter controls should be put into place regarding whose names are entered into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) on civil immigration detainers. Controls are needed to eliminate the entering of civil detainers into a system intended for criminal warrants, which creates confusion for local police, and may cause them to exceed their authority by arresting a person on a civil detainer
Immigration Summit Participants’ Recommendations
For Local Police
1. Officers should be prohibited from arresting or detaining persons for the
sole purpose of investigating their immigration status.2. Officers should arrest persons who violate the criminal laws of their
jurisdictions without regard to the immigration status of the alleged
perpetrator or the victim.3. Local police must uphold the Constitutional and civil rights of persons
regardless of their immigration status.4. Local police must protect crime victims and witnesses regardless of their
immigration status, and should encourage all victims and witnesses to report
crimes, regardless of their immigration status.5. Local police should engage immigrant communities in dialogue about
department policies and programs.6. Local police agencies should educate their communities about their role in
immigration enforcement, especially the legal authorities and responsibilities
of local police and federal law enforcement.7. Local police should develop comprehensive written policies and procedures
regarding handling of undocumented immigrants.8. Local police agencies should monitor indicators of racial profiling by
employees, investigate violations, and sanction offenders.9. Local police agencies should become knowledgeable about programs such as
287(g), Secure Communities, and state or local initiatives to ensure that the
programs meet the agency’s specified goals for participation.
March 4th, 2011 on 12:49 pm
I’ll tell you for fact that they are a ton of TPD officers that would like to be able to check immigrations status of those they come into contact with.
Notice I said OFFICERS on the streets, not politically appointed CHIEFS.
March 4th, 2011 on 4:17 pm
JoeS, You are right. This is just another misleading headline. Americans should be used to this type of lie from the news media.
March 4th, 2011 on 7:01 pm
What do you guys expect? Most of the writers for this site are liberal as all hell!
March 4th, 2011 on 8:44 pm
Yes guys, I suspect it’s all one of those nefarious liberal plots intended to fool the well-educated and well-informed.
March 5th, 2011 on 5:44 am
It is. Seeing how a liberal like yourself is trying to twist it into just a story is hilarious. I work down in az, and I know for a fact that all of the bordertown cops love calling the border patrol when they come across possible illegals, and wish they could determine if they are illegal themselves. This guy is probably taking responses from cops that aren’t near the border. And the ones that are near the border, and dont want to do it, should be fired! They are politically appointed and/or dirty, like Douglas PD.
March 5th, 2011 on 7:29 am
Yes, it is clearly a conspiracy that involves at least the entire Douglas PD, the NY Times and a huge number of police chiefs that are on the payroll of the cartels.
It’s OK to say that the findings of a poll contradict your personal experience and question the methodology used; no need to create an elaborate conspiracy theory.
BTW – I am not a liberal. I am a communist. It’s a common mistake and a lot of reactionaries don’t know the difference.
March 5th, 2011 on 8:14 am
Lets see…our local law enforcement officers can be dealing with felonies like murder, rape, roberry, auto theft, burglary….or chasing around maids and gardners who committed a federal misdemeanor of illegal entry. As taxpayers of local governments what do you want your increasing budget-contrained public safety officers focusing their time on?
Then there is the not so small problem that if 1,000 additional illegal immigrants were caught today in Arizona by local l;aw enforcement…where would you put them….certainly not in locally funded jails at $70 a night of your local tax money.
The feds don’t have the detention capacity to really increase the number of people caught and held….especially the ones who have done nothing more than first time illegal entry which they promptly deport.
Trying to turn LEOs into immigration agents is great political theater but really is not the answer. The answer is concentrating the Border Patrol right at the border so LEOs don’t have to be a second line of defense here.
March 5th, 2011 on 9:49 am
The burglars and murderers are the illegals a lot of the times dummy! And I would rather my taxes pay for officers going after “gardeners and maids” than for the welfare of illegal families, anchor babies, and those with false ss cards. And Hugh, once again your clueless on sticking the bp right on the border, and only right on the border. I wish you would go for a ride along for a couple weeks straight, and see how stupid you sound, and how your ideas are laughed at.