Police fear backlash in crime-fighting
By Casey Ross
Boston Herald Reporter

Monday, June 5, 2006 - Updated: 05:11 PM EST

While concerned about rampant illegal immigration, some Bay State communities are in a quandary over the issue because of fears that a crackdown will hinder some residents’ cooperation with police.

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“It becomes a bigger issue of trust,” Lowell Police Superintendent Ed Davis said. “You can’t have significant numbers of your population afraid to call the police. It becomes a very serious problem.”

In Somerville, Mayor Joseph Curtatone drafted a resolution barring police from becoming involved in immigration enforcement because of worries about the chilling effect it could have on cooperation with investigations.



Meanwhile, police officials in communities that are contending with less street and gang violence are more concerned that they continually have to release illegal aliens they pick up on minor offenses, even when they fear doing so could endanger public safety.

“We don’t even know who these people are,” said Saugus police officer James Scott, who said he became concerned when he began encountering large numbers of illegals driving without licenses.

“No one is out there looking for undocumented aliens,” Scott said. “And when police do stop them on the side of the road, guess what (federal authorities) are still not looking for? No one comes for them.”

Immigrant advocates, meanwhile, echo the concerns of many urban police chiefs, saying that local enforcement of immigration laws will only lead to more unsolved crimes. “For every one undocumented immigrant police may run across, seven to 10 are reporting crimes to their office,” said Ali Noorani of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition. “If local police take steps to enforce immigration law, those crimes are going to go unreported