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Board to get update on immigration


By Cheryl Chumley

Published: March 30, 2008

Tuesday's Prince William supervisors' meeting will include a presentation of the latest facts and figures on the county's immigration policy, as compiled by police Chief Charlie T. Deane.


This is the first detailed and formal presentation to the board since the policy allowing police to check immigration status of arrested suspects went into effect, March 3. According to the meeting agenda, Deane will provide several highlights—that 525 officers and 31 civilians have been trained on the new policy in the weeks between Jan.1 and Feb. 29, for instance—as well as lay out the next two-plus years of implementation.


It's in this time frame that police and other pertinent officials will begin to track crime trends, among other statistics, and look for significant changes that stem from the dates of immigration policy implementation.


The chief is also expected to continue at least one train of discussion picked up Thursday evening, during a meeting with the Mexican general consul in which that official, Enrique Escorza, was quoted as voicing concerns with "wrong perceptions" that bring "social tensions." The agenda for Tuesday's board meeting lists Deane as discussing "community misconceptions regarding police authority."


The department has already taken numerous steps to deflect or offset such misconceptions with the policy change. In a press release from Thursday, police list the more than 50 religious groups, media groups, educational organizations, government bodies and other interested parties they have met with in the past weeks.


"Last July … we realized one of the greatest challenges was going to be in the area of public education," Deane said in the release. "Since this is a new area of responsibility, one of our greatest challenges has been responding to the differing expectations of those in the community, and clarifying what police officers will be doing, and also what they will not be doing."


In other matters Tuesday, supervisors will consider budget cuts to the circuit court; the adoption of a $2.27 million Community Development Block Grant plan; and a proposal to adopt the Virginia Bluebell as Prince William's official flower.

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