Thread: AZ: Cops call 'new' policy old news

Cops call 'new' policy old news
Mar. 2, 2008 12:00 AM

The president of the Phoenix police union wasn't a bit surprised when I told him that according to a recent poll, 79 percent of the city's residents support the new policy allowing Phoenix officers to question a criminal suspect's immigration status.

What surprised Mark Spencer, head of the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association, was that so many people had been fooled into believing that the policy was "new."

"That's one of the things that is misunderstood about the recommended policy," Spencer said. "If I book a person for a misdemeanor or a felony into jail right now, ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) is already imbedded there and is inquiring into their status. So, this is something that already is done. The policy doesn't change anything." advertisement




Actually, it does.

It changes the appearance of things, which is useful to politicians looking to make a sensitive subject disappear from public view. And it has.

Since the "new" policy was announced a few weeks back, the issue seems resolved. And it is, except to the officers who must deal with the problem every day.

"The recommendation wasn't what we'd hoped for," Spencer said.

Back in December, Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon appointed a four-person panel to look into changes in how immigration issues are handled by city cops.

Pressure for a new policy rose considerably after Officer Nick Erfle was killed last year by an illegal immigrant.

Spencer said that in evaluating the policy, everyone, including the union, agreed that officers should not question the immigration status of crime victims or witnesses.

In meeting with the panel, Spencer said that based on a survey of Phoenix officers, he asked for essentially one thing: Trust.

Spencer wanted Phoenix officers to have the "discretionary ability to contact ICE when an officer believed there was reasonable suspicion that a person is in the country illegally."

Sometimes that would involve a crime. Sometimes it might involve only a civil violation, like a traffic stop.

But that isn't what they got.

The "new" policy has criminal suspects being asked about their status but no one else.

At a news conference announcing its recommendation, panel member Paul Charlton, a former U.S. attorney, said, "We see this as a measured step. There will be some who say it's a step too far. There will be some who say it's a step that doesn't go far enough. But for us, it's the right first step."

Spencer sees it a little differently.

"What the policy communicates to us is a real lack of confidence in rank-and-file officers," he said.

Smaller police forces like Paradise Valley allow their officers a wide measure of discretion when asking a person's immigration status, Spencer said, adding that he'll continue to work to "improve" the policy in Phoenix in a way that would get his officers the same authority.

"In the meantime, we're a paramilitary organization, and our officers will follow the order," the police union president said.

The policy also says that when officers apprehend someone they believe to be in the country illegally, they are to notify Immigration and Customs Enforcement with a one-page form and then leave it up to ICE whether to arrest and deport that person.

According to Spencer, requiring ICE to be contacted through a written form rather than a phone call does add one significant feature to current police policy.

Paperwork.

www.azcentral.com

He needs to find a new line of work, what an arrogant attitude. I don’t know how police departments became unionized, when the people they are supposed to protect and served lost their unions partially because of IA’s. Maybe they should threaten to replace him with an IA to see if his attitude changes. The fact is if IA’s know they will be deported if picked up they will either leave or stay out of trouble period. I caught IA stealing from my truck here one night and when the police arrived they did nothing because I stopped them from getting away, the police comment to me was I needed to move.