Thread: Rogers : Chief: Profiling fear unfounded

Rogers : Chief: Profiling fear unfounded

BY LIZ BOCH

Posted on Sunday, November 19, 2006

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Rogers police Chief Steve Helms doubts a new program that trains local police to enforce federal immigration laws will lead to racial profiling in his city.

“We know how to do the job,” Helms said. “We do not profile based on race, sex, color, anything.”

Rogers plans to enroll at least six officers in the U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement 287 (g ) program.

The program, created in 1996 after an amendment to the Immigration and Nationality Act, allows states and municipalities to contract with the federal government to enforce immigration laws.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement trains officers for about five weeks and designs a program that allows local law enforcement officers to question, detain and process suspected illegal aliens they encounter during their daily work.

Rogers Mayor Steve Womack sees the 287 (g ) program as a way to reduce violent crimes and drug offenses. Illegal aliens accounted for 31 of the 190 people arrested on felony drug charges in Rogers since Jan. 1, 2005, Womack told aldermen last week. Hispanic community leaders like Martin Montes of Rogers have said the program would make Rogers’ Hispanic residents feel targeted by police. About 15, 000 of the 48, 000 people who live in Rogers are Hispanic, according to a special census conducted this summer.

Montes also said he thinks the plan could lead to underreporting of crime in the Hispanic community.

“It increases the possibility that criminal activity will not get reported because individuals might not want to come forward because they could be impacted by the program,” said Montes, who has met with groups concerned about the program.

Helms said any future lawsuits against the department for profiling under the 287 (g ) program will be unfounded.

But the chief does see the possibility of underreported crimes against Hispanics as a legitimate concern that the city needs to address.

DEPARTMENT’S PAST In October 2003, Hispanic motorists filed a lawsuit against Rogers and its Police Department, claiming the city was guilty of racial profiling. The parties reached a settlement that didn’t include monetary damages or an admission of guilt. But the department agreed to form a committee that meets at least twice a year to discuss efforts to connect with the immigrant community. The department also undergoes diversity training once a year. “We’re not going to be successfully sued,” Helms said. “We’re sued on a fairly regular basis, but successfully sued is where the difference comes in.”

Jim Miranda of B ella Vista isn’t so sure Rogers will be on firm legal ground. He’s starting a Northwest Arkansas chapter of the Mexican American Political Association in response to Rogers’ plans. Miranda has consulted a Springdale attorney and contacted the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, the group that represented the Rogers residents who sued the department and city in 2003. “This skirts dangerously close to violating civil rights,” he said. “It will throw the city into a long protracted legal nightmare. I will not stand to be profiled or be discriminated against.”

GAINING POPULARITY If accepted, Rogers would join 25 other state, county and municipal agencies that have requested to contract with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, also known as ICE, to train under the 287 (g ) program.

The agency was created in 2003 under the Department of Homeland Security. It combines the law enforcement arms of the former Immigration and Naturalization Service and the former U. S. Customs Service.

In North Carolina, the Mecklenburg County sheriff’s office has begun the deportation process on 1, 000 illegal immigrants since it implemented the 287 (g ) program in May, said office spokesman Julia Rush.

The sheriff’s office only uses the program for people already arrested by local law enforcement and highway patrol, Rush said.

But racial profiling has been a concern, she said, because it’s possible patrolling officers are now arresting more people for misdemeanors, increasingly the likelihood they would be questioned by a cross-trained officer.

Before the program, those people could have just received warnings, she said.

The Mecklenburg County Commission approved 10 additional officer positions to replace the officers who joined the program, Rush said.

Florida was the first state to contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement for the 287 (g ) program, in 2002. Almost 20 percent of Florida’s population is Hispanic, according to the Census Bureau.

Florida has 62 cross-certified officers scattered across seven regional domestic security task force locations throughout the state, said Heather Smith, spokesman for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The task forces were created after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to investigate domestic security tips in Florida, she said.

Each task force uses its 287 (g ) trained officers to enhance existing security cases, said Mark Zadra, a special agent with the Florida program.

The program in Florida was designed after the terrorist attacks in response to the state’s connection to several of the terrorists who hijacked planes, Zadra said. Its officers are looking for potential threats to security, not specifically illegal aliens, he said.

“If I am driving down the interstate right now and saw a van that had 15 Mexicans perhaps on the way to pick fruit in a field, I have no right to pull them over and question them,” Zadra said.

Florida officials wanted to limit controversy surrounding the program, particularly in the migrant farming community, Zadra said. So they met with interested groups before signing up for 287 (g ), went on television explaining the program and produced a brochure in five different languages, he said.

“Our memorandum of understanding allows people to file complaints, and since 2002, we have never received one,” he said.

UNREPORTED CRIME ? Immigration and Customs Enforcement will review Rogers ’ request and reach a memorandum of understanding between the city and federal officials before training begins, said Temple Blac, spokesman for the agency’s New Orleans regional office. Helms supports Rogers’ inclusion in the program, but he sees two potential difficulties. First, he needs additional officers. Second, he agrees with Montes that crimes among Hispanics may go unreported. The Rogers City Council approved adding another seven officers last week, six of whom would work under the department’s existing Crime Suppression Unit.

Experienced officers in the Narcotics or Crime Suppression units could be sent through federal training, Helms said. Aldermen would then need to approve additional new officer positions that would likely be put on daily patrol to make up for those in training, he said.

“If the mayor and I decide six officers is a good starting point for the program, we’ll need to hire an additional six to backfill,” Helms said.

There’s a potential for certain crimes, including domestic violence, to go unreported, he said, because the victims would be afraid they might be deported if they came forward.

Helms said he can’t assure residents that officers will never ask victims of crime for their immigration status because he has not yet contracted with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and determined what officers will learn in training.

He added, however, that he will meet with Womack and City Attorney Ben Lipscomb after his officers are trained to decide what the department will be allowed to do during daily operations.

“Domestic violence has always been low-reported, and even more if they have a fear of being deported,” Helms said. “If you are a victim of a crime, I don’t care about your immigration status.”

To contact this reporter: lboch@arkansasonline. com Mayor’s letter

Rogers Mayor Steve Womack sent a letter last week to the Department of Homeland Security requesting to enroll at least six police officers in the U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement 287 (g ) program, which allows states and municipalities to contract with the federal government to enforce immigration laws. Points made by the mayor in the letter include: A growing number of incidents involving illegal aliens is negatively impacting the quality of life in Rogers.

The city’s involvement in the 287 (g ) program will reduce “violent, egregious and unnecessary crimes” committed by illegal aliens. The resident agent in charge of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Fort Smith and the U. S. Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas both support Womack’s plan.

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“It increases the possibility that criminal activity will not get reported because individuals might not want to come forward because they could be impacted by the program,” said Montes, who has met with groups concerned about the program.

I'm so SICK of hearing about this.......that's the price you pay as a lawbreaker. We should protect the American people, NOT illegal aliens.

There’s a potential for certain crimes, including domestic violence, to go unreported, he said, because the victims would be afraid they might be deported if they came forward.

No need to fear if you are here legally.