Thread: Mesa police unsure of new immigration bill's impact

Mesa police unsure of new immigration bill's impact

by Nathan Gonzalez - Apr. 14, 2010 02:37 PM
The Arizona Republic

As state lawmakers put the final stamp on an immigration bill that gives police broader immigration enforcement powers, Mesa police officials were trying to sort out how the department will implement the law and how much it will cost the cash-strapped city.

On Tuesday, the Arizona House of Representatives passed Senate Bill 1070, which would make it a state crime to be in the country illegally and would require anyone that local and state police suspect is in the country illegally to produce a green card
.

Mesa Police Chief Frank Milstead said on Wednesday that he had yet to read the bill, which still must be reconciled with a previously passed Senate version before being signed by Gov. Jan Brewer.

Milstead said that if the bill is passed, it would essentially require "people to prove their innocence" before even charged with a crime.

"There are so many variables at play," Milstead said. "We will have to look through the bill once it is passed."

Another concern for the department is the additional cost to enforce the law. Currently officers must be federally trained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to apprehend and process people arrested under the federal government's 287g immigration program.

"ICE provides a six-week long course to get officers to understand the intricacies of finding out someone's status," Milstead said. "We only have limited resources, and we became even more limited last week with the proposed budget cuts."

Last week the police department
revealed it faces a $6.4 million cut to its budget for the upcoming fiscal year, which begins July 1.

"We just don't know what the costs will be," said Assistant Police Chief Mike Denney, who trained the department's officers on the Mesa's illegal immigration policy.

Under the city's current policy, which has been in place 16 months, police officers are only allowed to ask a person's immigration status when that person is being booked for a crime.

"We aren't sure what this is going to mean," Denney said. "What does it do to our already limited resources? Officers are going to have to spend a lot of time determining whether someone is or is not in the country illegally."

www.azcentral.com

"We just don't know what the costs will be," said Assistant Police Chief Mike Denney, who trained the department's officers on the Mesa's illegal immigration policy.

Costs will be a hell of a lot less than the amounts sucked up by illegal aliens.

Mesa Police Department Human Resources Section
Officer Pay Scale

Get there faster by working for the Mesa Police Department!

1. quite nice
2. Chief will try to restrict your duties under the guise of stopping people you suspect of being possibly illegal is a bad thing to do.


Pay Plan Time Working for the
Mesa Police Department
Base Pay Scale
Police Officer Recruit Entry Pay 0 Years $49,836.80
Police Officer Pay - Step 1 (5% raise) 10 Months $52,457.60
Police Officer Pay - Step 2 (5% raise) 1 Year $55,161.60
Police Officer Pay - Step 3 (5% raise) 2 Years $57,928.00
Police Officer Pay - Step 4 (5% raise) 3 Years $60,964.80
Police Officer Pay - Step 5 (5% raise) 4 Years $64,043.20
Police Officer Pay - Step 6 (5% raise) 5 Years $67,371.20
Police Officer Pay - Step 7 (5% raise) 6 Years $70,803.20

The pay scale does not include Overtime, Shift Differential, Holiday Pay, Standby Pay, or Callout Pay. You also receive $875 annual Uniform Allowance and $750 Ballistic Vest Reimbursement.

Remove Mesa Police Chief Frank Milstead who wants to be a civil rights lawyer and not an enforcer of the law. He chose the wrong vocation.

PS Mesa median income Median Household Income $42,817

Quite a deal you got there chief.