Thread: LAPD chief vows to clarify policy on immigrants

LAPD chief vows to clarify policy on immigrants
Bratton defends order outlining when to question suspects.
By Richard Winton, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
April 17, 2008

Los Angeles Police Chief William J. Bratton said Wednesday that the department's controversial policy on dealing with illegal immigrants was widely misunderstood by the public and some of his own officers, and he would clarify the rule in the next couple of weeks.

Bratton strongly defended the basic intent of the policy -- known as Special Order 40 -- which prohibits officers from initiating contact with individuals for the sole purpose of determining whether they are illegal immigrants.

The 29-year-old policy was designed to encourage illegal immigrants to cooperate with police without fear of being deported. It has come under renewed debate in recent weeks after the high-profile killing of a teenager, allegedly by an illegal immigrant gang member.

The scrutiny has spilled over into the City Council, where one member has proposed making it easier for police to inquire about known gang members' immigration status.

Bratton said the recent criticism is based on a faulty understanding of the rule.

"There is a misrepresentation, misinterpretation, misunderstanding on the part of all the concerned parties here -- whether it is immigrant advocates, immigrant haters, the talk shows, drive-time radio talk-show hosts," Bratton said. "When it comes to our situation in L.A ., . . . the vast majority of them don't know what . . . they are talking about."

Bratton acknowledged some of his own officers were also confused about the policy. For example, he said, he has heard accounts of officers who believe they are prohibited from calling federal immigration officials to report known gang members who have committed crimes and reentered the country illegally.

Officers privately say they often avoid the issue of a suspect's immigration status altogether -- largely out of fear it will anger superiors who see it as a lightning-rod issue.

"I don't understand that mind-set," Bratton said of such officers. "That is a cop-out."

Instituted in 1979 by then-Chief Daryl F. Gates, Special Order 40 states that "officers shall not initiate police action with the objective of discovering the alien status of a person." It is now incorporated into the LAPD manual.

Last week, the parents of Jamiel Shaw Jr. -- the 17-year-old Los Angeles High School football star allegedly killed by an illegal immigrant gang member -- urged the City Council to adopt Jamiel's Law, amending Special Order 40 to allow LAPD officers to routinely check the immigration status of known gang members who are suspected of committing a crime.

Councilman Dennis Zine -- citing Shaw's slaying -- introduced a motion last week calling for Bratton and the department's civilian oversight commission to require officers to check on the immigration status of gang members who are suspected of being in the country illegally -- even if the suspects are not under arrest.

Bratton lashed out at Zine, saying the proposal amounts to "racial profiling." He said that Zine is a reserve officer and "should be very up to speed on this and apparently is not." When police get retrained on the policy, Bratton said, "the first person we will put in the class will be Councilman Dennis Zine."

Zine rejected the chief's suggestion that the proposal would unfairly profile minorities, saying officers would check someone's immigration status only after confirming they were an active gang member. "With all due respect to the chief, I've been around this department a lot longer than he has -- before Special Order 40 and after it. And I can tell you that there is a lot of confusion about what can be done and what cannot," Zine said. "I am concerned that there is all this resistance from the chief of police about what we're trying to do here."

Bratton said Shaw's death, while tragic, was not the result of Special Order 40. The alleged killer had been arrested previously in Culver City and released from the L.A. County Jail, which is run by the Sheriff's Department.

Without offering specifics, Bratton indicated that his upcoming clarification of the order would specifically address what officers should do when they encounter someone who they know has been arrested, convicted and subsequently deported.

In such cases, he said, officers need to determine whether the person has an outstanding federal arrest warrant for illegal reentry into the country, and, if not, whether federal immigration officials are willing to pursue one.

In several of the department's divisions, most notably in the San Fernando Valley Bureau, anti-gang officers are already working with federal agents, Bratton said.

The clarification of the policy, Bratton said, is part of an overall anti-gang effort by the department. But, he said, his officers would never become the Border Patrol.

"If you are an illegal immigrant out there and basically you are obeying the law and you are not preying on others, you don't have anything to fear from the Los Angeles police in terms of us approaching you solely on the belief you are here illegally," Bratton said.

Bratton acknowledged that his position was likely to infuriate both sides of the immigration debate, but he said he was confident he was acting in the best interest of the community.

"It is a tempest in a teapot," he said of the controversy over the policy. "It is so hopelessly, totally misunderstood by just about everyone."

He said he welcomed the opportunity to clarify the issue.

"It is an opportunity to explain what it is and what it is not," Bratton said. "To calm everyone down. The sky is not falling."
http://www.latimes.com:80/news/printedi ... 9367.story

"I don't understand that mind-set," Bratton said of such officers. "That is a cop-out."

Couldn't have said it better myself...Bratton seems to be incapable of using logic here....by his own statements he's admitting that Special Order 40 is a policy that has been ineffective, dangerous and inconsistently and wrongly applied and misinterpreted by everyone. So, brainiac, all the more reason to scrap it altogether since it has caused some very tragice unintended consequences leading to hundreds of deaths, thousands of crimes and made the gang problem even worse in the City. Duh!

There is a misrepresentation, misinterpretation, misunderstanding on the part of all the concerned parties here -- whether it is immigrant advocates, immigrant haters, the talk shows, drive-time radio talk-show hosts," Bratton said. "When it comes to our situation in L.A ., . . . the vast majority of them don't know what . . . they are talking about."

Bratton acknowledged some of his own officers were also confused about the policy. For example, he said, he has heard accounts of officers who believe they are prohibited from calling federal immigration officials to report known gang members who have committed crimes and reentered the country illegally.

Sorry, I don't buy it! This law is very simple and I cannot believe that so called police officers from the bottom on up have been misinterpretating this law. Special 40 prohibits officers from making intitial contact with a subject in order to determine their immigration status, absent any other probable cause. It does not prevent police from notifying ICE, AFTER an arrest has been made! Bratton knows this and is using ignorance as an excuse to justify his departments negligence.

More like it, the LAPD has been using this law as an excuse "not" to notify ICE and to justify and carry out their sanctuary agenda under the known false presumption that special 40 prohibits notifying ICE when officers have arrested an illegal invader.

William Bratton's arrogance is exceeded only by his incompetence. Special Order 40, indeed any area "sanctuary" policies, are fundamentally flawed and contribute to disrespect for the law and social anarchy with tragic consequences. Since Bratton can't get this through his thick skull, it's time for him to pack his bags and take his failed roadshow to another municipality.

Why should it take a "couple of weeks" to clarify Special Order 40? Maybe he needs time to cover his own behind, since he's NOT been abiding by the terms of the order anyway?

Special Order 40 always had a clause in there that gave the LAPD permission to ask someone who went to jail their legal status, but Bratton has NOT been allowing that. When is his term up or contract up? He should be run out of office and banned from law enforcement for life. He should also be held liable for the deaths of US citizens killed by illegal invaders Bratton has been protecting!

The intent of S.O. 40 was to be ambiguous. They KNEW if it wasn't clear the police would stop asking about immigration status altogether rather than investigate the nuances.

We had the same issue here in Evanston IL. The existing sanctuary law was ambiguously written so our police just stopped asking altogether. I personally asked a handful of officers and they ALL said they simply NEVER ask.

When the recent sanctuary resolution came about here, again I asked for clarification. I asked the City Council, "For the sake of clarity, can you please put on paper in what exact instances the police are ordered to ask about immigration status?" I was given an ambiguous "that depends" kind of answer.

If Chief Bratton wants to clarify things, why not put concrete examples of when the officers are SUPPOSED to ask? The answer is simple, because the chief doesn't WANT them to EVER ask, but he has to protect his sanctuary-esque behind!

Since when did law enforcement officers become politicians, anyway?

"There is a misrepresentation, misinterpretation, misunderstanding on the part of all the concerned parties here -- whether it is immigrant advocates, immigrant haters, the talk shows, drive-time radio talk-show hosts," Bratton said.

So Chief Bratton classifies people with views on immigration into 2 groups.
1. immigrant advocates
2. immigrant haters

Classifying people who oppose ILLEGAL immigration as IMMIGRANT HATERS--and this man is a police chief?

We've seen their actions for the last two or three decades. Now he is going to explain it to us?

This should be interesting.



P.S. When are the rest of us going to be able to report crimes to them without the fear of them not upholding their oaths of office?

Why is it okay for him to use racism to not enforce the law. We have people here illegally from all over the world. It is not racist to check their identification or status for being here.

These Revolutionaries need to be brought to justice and a republican form of government restored in California. Not only do they weasel out of upholding the laws "We the People" have passed they subvert the laws they themselves have brought about.

How can our courts dispense justice and allow equal protection of the law without knowing the legal status of the accused?