Thread: Town police respond to directive on immigrants

Town police respond to directive on immigrants

By: Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?news ... 5643&rfi=6
08/30/2007

Lawrence Police Department is developing new policies aimed at complying with a directive to check the immigration status of persons charged with serious crimes

The Lawrence Township Police Department is developing new policies aimed at complying with a directive from the state attorney general to check the immigration status of persons charged with serious crimes.
Attorney General Anne Milgram issued the directive Aug. 22, following the murder of three college students in a Newark schoolyard by a group of six men led by an illegal immigrant from Peru on Aug. 4.
"This directive is so new right now, we don't have a process (to follow)," said Chief of Police Daniel Posluszny. "Certain criteria will be developed and used, and we are in the process of doing that now. There will be no (racial or ethnic) profiling."
Lawrence has a diverse population, but the vast majority of township residents are in this country legally, Chief Posluszny said. The township has an Eastern European population, as well as a large Asian population. There are some Hispanics, as well, he said.
The attorney general's directive calls for police to check on the immigration status of a person charged with driving under the influence or an indictable crime, such as robbery, burglary, aggravated assault, simple assault on a police officer or school personnel, or theft of items worth more than $200.
If a police officer determines a person who has been arrested is an illegal immigrant, the officer must notify the Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE), the county prosecutor's office and the court, Chief Posluszny said.
But the Lawrence police has always had an "unwritten policy" to contact ICE if the police believe a person who has been arrested is in this country illegally, Chief Posluszny added. It would be up to ICE to take the next step, he said.
"We are a society of different ethnic backgrounds," Chief Posluszny said. "There have always been illegal immigrants, but it has come to the forefront since 9/11. The greater proportion of people we arrest (who would meet the DUI or indictable offense guidelines) are American citizens."
Although the directive was handed down to police one week ago, Deputy Chief of Police Joseph Prettyman said he did not think it would change the way a "diligent" police officer already works.
"Faced with a person (under arrest) who has no identification and who is not giving us any information, historically we would notify ICE," Deputy Chief Prettyman said. "It is not really going to change much, except that we are mandated to (notify ICE)."
The attorney general's directive also allows law enforcement agencies to be "deputized" by ICE so they can act as federal immigration officers with respect to illegal immigrants, but Chief Posluszny said the Lawrence Township Police Department would not seek such authorization.
The directive does not require police to check on the immigration status of a person who is a victim of a crime, who is reporting a crime, who is a witness to a crime or who is seeking the help of the police for another matter, Chief Posluszny said.
Chief Posluszny and Deputy Chief Prettyman said they don't want to discourage victims or witnesses who are illegal immigrants from coming forward to report a crime, but they conceded there is a portion of the population that already is fearful of approaching the police.
"Some people are already fearful, and that won't change," Deputy Chief Prettyman said.

A traffic stop should be good enough to check for immigration status. If they call for a spanish speaker to help translate then deport them. I get sick of paying for this service. I hear the request constantly on my scanner.