Thread: ESCONDIDO : El Grupo calls on city to replace Police Chief

ESCONDIDO, CALIFORNIA: El Grupo calls on city to replace police chief

By EDWARD SIFUENTES - Staff Writer |

Tuesday, April 21, 2009 9:09 PM PDT

Latino rights group says police polices creating fear in Latino community

Members of a North County Latino rights group on Tuesday called on the city of Escondido to replace its police chief, saying his policies, especially his department's frequent use of driver's license checkpoints, have created an atmosphere of fear in the community.

Both the police chief and the city's mayor rejected the call.

Members of El Grupo, an umbrella group of civil rights organizations, held a press conference at the American Civil Liberties Union offices in San Diego. Although the ACLU is one of the organizations that make up El Grupo, it did not call for the chief's removal.

At a subsequent news conference, Escondido police Chief Jim Maher told reporters that he would not step down. He defended his policies, saying they do not target any one group, but are aimed at increasing public safety in the city.

The police chief, who was appointed in 2006, said he has made efforts to calm fears in the community by attending and hosting community forums, and by hiring a community liaison to help improve relations between Latinos and the department. But those efforts have been hampered by Latino activists, he said.

"There are many in this community that are trying to explain to the immigrant community that we are not on their side," Maher said. "And this morning's (El Grupo) press conference is a great example. They want the immigrant community to believe that we should not be trusted and that they should fear us."

City Manager Clay Phillips, who hires the police chief, could not be reached for comment.

Members of El Grupo said the checkpoints have led many in the community to fear deportation if they report crimes to the police. Immigrants, predominantly of Latino descent, make up about a quarter of the city's population of 128,800, according to 2007 U.S. Census estimates.

"There is a strong and now indelible perception within the Latino community that the Escondido police chief and the department are working hand-in-hand with immigration authorities," said Victor Torres, a Rancho Penasquitos attorney and spokesman for El Grupo.

Maher said only a handful of people have been turned over to immigration authorities in recent years, and only one in 2008, as a result of the checkpoints.

At their news conference, El Grupo presented two women who said they have been affected by Escondido police policies. One of the women said her sister was arrested at a checkpoint in October and subsequently turned over to immigration authorities and deported.

"I don't think what the police are doing is right," said the woman, who did not want her name published because she said she has other family members who are in the country illegally, including two of her sister's four children.

The other woman, who also did not want her name published, said she witnessed a sexual assault but did not report it for fear of the police. She instead told a schoolteacher who reported the incident.

Andrea Guerrero, field and policy director for the ACLU in San Diego, made several recommendations for the department, including that it collect racial and ethnic data of people who come into contact with its officers.

Guerrero said the information could be used to determine whether the department is targeting any particular group, a practice sometimes known as racial profiling.

The police chief said he did not agree with the recommendation because the information could be skewed and used by groups against the department.

Maher said the department does not aim to arrest illegal immigrants and that they are safe to report crimes without fear of being turned over to federal authorities. He said only one person was deported as a result of its checkpoints in 2008.

The woman, whose name was not released by the chief, was arrested at a checkpoint because she did not have a license. After police checked her criminal background, they found out that the woman was wanted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and was turned over to the agency.

An Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent works part time out of an office in the Escondido Police Department. It is the only department in North County that has an immigration agent in its facilities.

Maher said the agent is there to work with the department's anti-gang unit and to identify criminal illegal immigrants, those who have committed serious crimes and those who have been deported repeatedly.

In recent years, the Escondido Police Department has conducted many more checkpoints and confiscated more vehicles than any other law enforcement agency in North County.

From 2005 to 2007, Escondido police conducted about 40 checkpoints, compared to only 13 in Oceanside during the same time period, according to data provided by the police departments.

The Escondido Police Department seized nearly 10,000 vehicles in the last three years from unlicensed drivers, more than double the 4,422 vehicles impounded by Oceanside police over the same period and far more than the 705 impounded by Carlsbad police, according to a North County Times review of police records in August.

Maher said the checkpoints were an important tool in helping to reduce hit-and-run accidents in the city by 36 percent in recent years, from 2004 to 2008.

Members of El Grupo said the checkpoints are ineffective, pointing to other cities in North County that have experienced similar drops in hit-and-run accidents without using high numbers of driver's license checkpoints.

Contact staff writer Edward Sifuentes at (760) 740-3511 or esifuentes@nctimes.com.

Previous stories:

REGION: Activists call checkpoints unfair

REGION: Escondido's checkpoints big business

NORTH COUNTY TIMES

COMMENTS ON THIS STORY

Roxy April 21, 2009 11:39PM PST
OPEN LETTER TO THE NORTH COUNTY TIMES

While the North County Times has shrunk understandably there are fewer reporters working harder and cover more territory.

Having said this I am amazed at the lack of quality of reporting and the biased and slanted stories that are chosen for publication. This article is a perfect example of a waste of time and ink. These organizations mentioned are NOT CIVIL RIGHTS ORGANIZATIONS. They are social clubs at best with very few results if any but no true advocacy, transparency or proof that they are solvent and TRULY help the community.

Nevertheless the NCT calls this group “an umbrella group of civil rights organizations.â€