Thread: NJ-Camden police chief to imm.:"We are here to protect

Camden police chief to immigrants: "We are here to protect you"

By DEBORAH HIRSCH
September 1, 2009
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CAMDEN — About 120 city residents gathered here Monday night for a public meeting intended to build trust between local police and the immigrant community.




In broken Spanish, Camden Police Chief Scott Thomson introduced himself by noting that he has many friends and even family members who are immigrants.

"This is in my heart," he told the audience at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Cramer Hill.

The police, he said, do not view immigrants as outsiders who have to be dealt with separately.

"You are Camden," he said. "Whether you have a green card, a visa, whether you are documented or not, that does not matter to us as law enforcement officers. We are here to protect you, that I can promise you."

New Jersey is home to an estimated 1.6 million documented immigrants and 500,000 undocumented immigrants, said Zoraida Gonzalez-Torres, a Cramer Hill resident and volunteer for Camden Churches Organized for People (CCOP).

It's not clear how many live in Camden, but community leaders say the number has been growing steadily in the past few years.

These illegal immigrants fear contact with city officials, and also are afraid that neighbors and landlords will report them to immigration agents if they complain about living conditions or other problems, Gonzalez-Torres said.

"Tonight we hope to build the voice of a people for peace, human dignity and justice," she said.

Thomson said he was working with CCOP to create a training program that will explain how to notify police of a crime and what rights victims have. Camden police, he said, do not ask crime victims about their citizenship and are in fact prohibited from doing so under a state directive.

"It's completely irrelevant," he said.

While Thomson focused on crime reporting, people at the meeting brought up concerns that area police were unfairly targeting suspected illegal immigrants during traffic stops.

Camden resident Emanuel Brown said police have stopped him 10 times in the past six years, and only issued a ticket once, for a broken tail light. Once the officers hear him speak and realize he's an American citizen, they let him go, he said.

"This is a problem for everyone," he said. "We must unite and stand for justice."

Vicky Walters, social outreach coordinator for St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Camden, said that even though she didn't see a lot of undocumented immigrants at the meeting, discussions like these do make a difference.

"It's really nice to see the chief make an effort to speak Spanish," she said. "It helps build a bridge."


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Reward illegal aliens and make them feel welcome. That will deter more illegals from invading our country...Idiots