Thread: N.J.: State says cop violated immigrants policy

State says cop violated immigrants policy
Newark deputy chief asked men who found body about their legal status
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
BY BRIAN DONOHUE
Star-Ledger Staff
A deputy chief with the Newark Police Department violated state directives on immigration enforcement when he asked witnesses to a crime scene if they were in the country legally, an investigation by the state attorney general has found.

In findings announced yesterday, state investigators concluded that Deputy Chief Samuel DeMaio wrongly asked a freelance photographer and his boss about their immigration status after the two journalists had alerted police to a dead body in the city's Ironbound section.

The Sept. 6 incident occurred less than three weeks after Attorney General Anne Milgram issued new guidelines ordering police to report illegal immigrants arrested for serious crimes to federal immigration authorities.

The directive, however, also prohibits police from asking crime victims and witnesses about their immigration status.

Yesterday, Milgram recommended that DeMaio be disciplined and all Newark police officers receive training on the immigration directive.

"Complying with the directive is the responsibility of every law enforcement officer in the state and gives assurances to witnesses, victims and those needing police assistance that they may come forward without fear of questions directed to their immigration status," Milgram said in a release. "Public safety suffers if individuals believe they cannot come forward to report crime or cooperate with law enforcement."

The incident remains under investigation by the Newark Police Department's division of internal affairs.

In an e-mailed statement, Police Director Garry McCarthy praised DeMaio's years of service and called the infraction an isolated incident. He also vowed to dispense "instruction and reprimand."

"We will continue to service the entire immigrant community without prejudice and use this isolated incident as a stepping stone towards nurturing a more positive relationship and greater sense of trust," McCarthy said.

Milgram's immigration directive is largely considered one of the toughest and most sweeping state policies in the nation. It was prompted after a suspect in the summer slayings of three college students in Newark was found to be an illegal immigrant who was free on bail on child sexual assault charges when the young people were killed.

The new policy and the Newark incident brought into sharp focus widespread fear in immigrant communities about reporting crimes for fear of being questioned about legality.

The state probe stemmed from a Sept. 6 incident in which Geraldo Carlos, a photographer from Brazil in this country illegally, found a body while shooting pictures in a trash-strewn lot in the Ironbound.

Carlos called his editor, Roberto Lima, and both men said DeMaio's first question after arriving on the scene was: "Do you have a green card?" Carlos told police his visa had expired, and officers confiscated his camera.

Later, when Lima went to the police station to object to the demand that the newspaper turn over all of the photos Carlos had taken, the 44-year-old newspaper editor said he was handcuffed to a bench and briefly detained.

Deputy Chief Daniel J. Zieser, president of the Newark Police Deputy Chief's Association, defended DeMaio yesterday, saying officers at the scene initially suspected the two journalists had committed crimes by not immediately reporting the body and altering evidence "for a journalistic exclusive." But neither man was charged with a crime.

The American Civil Liberties Union and the New Jersey Immigration Policy Network applauded Milgram's findings, but called on the state to clarify the directive and provide more training to police departments.

"You have 550 different law enforcement agencies, and you can't just expect your directive to just trickle down to the cop on the street," said Deborah Jacobs, executive director of the ACLU of New Jersey.

www.nj.com

Oh yes, by all means, take care of the ILLEGALS!!!!

So the photographer, even though admitting he was illegal, gets a free pass? Okay, if the police officer violated a rule than deal with it accordingly (don't agree with the rule but that's another story). However, one solid fact remains - the photographer confessed to being illegal.