Officer's widow slammed by radio host
Radio host assails push for immigration reform
45 commentsby Casey Newton - Aug. 26, 2008 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic

Almost a year after her husband was slain by an illegal immigrant, the widow of a Phoenix police officer is at the center of a new firestorm over the immigration issue.

A talk-show host is taking shots at her for supporting what he calls "amnesty," and the Valley's police are rushing to her defense.

Julie Erfle traveled to Washington, D.C., last week with Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon to advocate for immigration reform. Her husband, Nick Erfle, was killed last year by an illegal immigrant in an incident that sparked a furor over Phoenix police policy.
Erfle's trip led Bruce Jacobs, who hosts a morning talk show on KFYI-AM (550), to blast her position on immigration reform.

"You ought to be ashamed of yourself, Julie Erfle," Jacobs said Wednesday, according to a transcript provided to reporters. "I don't know how you can look at your kids and do this. . . . When the next police officer is gunned down or killed . . . is it fair to blame you? Because I am going to give you partial blame.

"Put that in your legacy for your husband."

Jacobs' comments have been met with sharp criticism. At least one company has suspended advertising with KFYI in the wake of Jacobs' remarks. On Monday, a coalition of law-enforcement groups denounced Jacobs, saying he had "crossed a line."

"To do the kind of attack that this Bruce Jacobs did on the widow of a murdered officer that gave his life for this community less than year ago . . . is reprehensible," Phoenix Police Chief Jack Harris said.

Casino Arizona has suspended September advertising on KFYI pending a review, a casino executive said. Police said McDonald's is also planning to withdraw advertising support, but KFYI said it had not received any notice and McDonald's officials could not be reached for comment.

KFYI referred questions about the calls for apology to Jacobs, who declined to comment.

"I don't speak to your lying publication," Jacobs said in an e-mail to The Arizona Republic.

At a news conference, Harris was joined by leaders of the Arizona Police Association, the Arizona Association of Chiefs of Police, the Arizona Fraternal Order of Police, and representatives from police unions in Phoenix, Mesa and Chandler.

"Bruce Jacobs, you coldheartedly attacked a hero's wife and family and attempted to disgrace his memory," said Nate Gafvert, vice president of the Mesa Police Association. "Your childish, personal attacks disgust me."

Police asked for a written and on-air apology from Jacobs and KFYI to Erfle and her family.

Nick Erfle was killed Sept. 18 by 22-year-old Erik Jovani Martinez, who was in the country illegally. Jacobs and others have blamed Erfle's murder on lax immigration-enforcement policies, including a Phoenix police rule that prevented officers in most cases from inquiring about immigration status.

That rule, Operations Order 1.4, was changed earlier this year so that anyone detained on a misdemeanor or felony is asked about his or her status.

In the furor that erupted after Erfle's death, Phoenix police noted that Martinez had been deported previously but managed to sneak back across the border. Police said that changing department policy would not have prevented Erfle's murder.

In the wake of her husband's death, Julie Erfle has made a handful of public appearances in support of immigration reform. She spoke in favor of revisions to the police policy earlier this year and traveled to Washington last week as a guest of Gordon, who delivered the keynote address to the Police Foundation.

Julie Erfle said she was upset that Jacobs criticized her advocacy efforts before she had even begun speaking in Washington.

"I was asked to speak on the human costs of illegal immigration, and I think I'm qualified to speak on that," she said. "For him to go on the attack like that without knowing why I went to D.C. or knowing what I was saying was pretty reprehensible."

Erfle said she would push for calm, levelheaded discussion of immigration reform. She advocates a policy outline from the Western Governors Association, also backed by Gordon, that would combine enhanced border security with a path to citizenship for those who are living in the country illegally.

In any case, she said she was not worried about what her husband would have thought about her advocacy work.

"I know he wouldn't be ashamed of me," she said. "I have felt very strongly ever since Nick died that there was some greater meaning to his death. . . . I think he would be happy that I was making something positive of it. He was a very positive person, and he would want something positive to come out of his death."
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