Danbury chief: ICE training would help police
By Eugene Driscoll STAFF WRITER
Article Last Updated: 01/11/2008 06:17:00 AM EST


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DANBURY -- A Common Council "committee of the whole" is scheduled to meet Monday at 7 p.m. in City Hall to learn more about a proposal to enroll city police in a program operated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Opponents of the program worry it will lead to racial profiling and erode relations between local police and the city's large immigrant population. Proponents of the partnership say the additional training will give Danbury police more tools to investigate crimes that have an angle involving illegal immigration.

Video: Click here to see video of Baker discussing the proposed ICE program.

Danbury Police Chief Al Baker, who will be making a presentation at Monday's meeting, sat down with The News-Times on Wednesday to answer questions about the proposal.

Q: You've said several times that enrolling in the ICE program


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would simply formalize an informal agreement the department already has with ICE. Why bother formalizing the agreement?
A: "First, we can get training for our officers. Second, having a formal agreement will make it easier to get equipment from ICE and additional manpower from ICE. We will have access to their databases, which we do not have now."

Q: What crimes occurring in the city necessitate this training?

A: "We've arrested, in Danbury, people wanted for murder in other countries. In the Danbury area, we've had human trafficking. We've had prostitution. We've had big instances of document fraud. We've had drug dealing with international connections. Those are the type of crimes we would focus our resources on."

Q: Will detectives from the Special Investigations Division receive the training?

A: "That's the way I envision it. I can't say for sure it will be those detectives, because this is a training opportunity I will have to post in the department and see who is interested. There are only four detectives and a lieutenant in the Special Investigations Division at the moment. I'm not sure I can gut that unit for a five- to six-week period. We're thinking of sending two people at first. We want to see how that works out and see how often we use those investigative resources."

Q: How do you respond to concerns over racial profiling -- that this ICE authority could be used by officers to target Latinos and that simple traffic stops could be used as an excuse to stop and detain suspected illegal immigrants?

A: "We don't want to go after people based on the color of their skin. That's illegal in Connecticut and it is illegal under U.S. law. It's also prohibited by Danbury Police Department rules and regulations."

Q: Mayor Mark Boughton has said that people already have their names run through computer databases to see if they are wanted by ICE.

A: "We run names through the National Crime Information Center. ICE has something like 630,000 warrants they've entered into the NCIC. We check for warrants from ICE, but we also look out for warrants from other agencies. We'll make arrests for Brookfield, Ridgefield, wherever. It is routine. (With ICE warrants) the subject has usually overstayed their visa or they've been deported and they didn't leave. There is some type of immigration enforcement action against them. ICE has said 'This is someone we're looking for' to put a detainer on them so they can get down here and pick them up. That happens two to three times a week. It is routine."

Q: Then why do you need the additional ICE database?

A: "They have a very good network of fingerprints and photographs of people who have come to their attention in the past."

(Note: The Law Enforcement Support Center, a service offered through ICE ACCESS, helps police departments gather information from eight Department of Homeland Security databases, in addition to the NCIC, according to ICE literature.)

"I've seen it where we've brought people into the Danbury Police Department who are wanted by ICE. They can take one fingerprint, put it into their computer and it pops up their picture, history and aliases. It tells you they entered the country at this time, on this date at this location. It will say whether they were deported. They have good tracking records of people who come into their system. Right now we have to call ICE for that information. We will have people trained to use that database."

Q: Will everyone the police department comes into contact with be run through this expanded ICE database?

A: "No, this will be used as an investigative tool, not a processing tool. We will not have a jail task force. We're talking about a criminal task force. If it helps us identify a person of interest in a crime, or the history of a person involved in a crime, then yes, we'll use it. Part of the training will be to find out what limitations ICE puts on the use of this database."

Q: The ICE ACCESS program information submitted to the Common Council by the mayor describes 13 ICE programs. Are you interested in 287(g), which cross-designates local officers to enforce immigration law?

A: "The 287(g) program is the cornerstone of the ICE ACCESS program. It gives you that cross-designation that sets up the training an ICE officer would receive."

Q: Describe the other ICE programs that interest the police department. Asset forfeiture?

A: "We do that with the DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency) now. If we arrest you for possessing a saleable quantity of drugs, we'll seize your house, your car and all the assets on you. If we can link that as proceeds from the crime, we'll file a civil action where we ask the court to award the house, the car, the cash to the Danbury Police Department for use in law enforcement purposes. I think (the ICE program) is basically the same program. If you have someone dealing in human trafficking or prostitution and they have a bank account with $100,000 and it can be linked as proceeds from the crime, the same federal laws will apply."

Q: Document and benefit fraud task forces?

A: "That's something we would be very interested in. Part of the training will be how to recognize false documents. It is specialized training and we may also be able to bring in ICE officers who can better recognize fraudulent, out-of-state licenses. The task force would be able to track a case like that across jurisdictions."

Q: Fugitive operation teams?

A: "That would be very important. We've arrested serious criminals living here in Danbury who are wanted in other countries. Our guys will give specific examples Monday."

Q: Work site enforcement?

A: "That was a program offered as an option when I talked to ICE as an area they could get involved in. I have the impression that they focus on large scale work sites, a textile mill or something like that that may employ large number of illegal immigrants. I do not think we have sites like that in Danbury. I don't see it as a major problem in Danbury. We certainly do not have the resources to check on someone who hired
http://www.newstimes.com/ci_7941372?source=most_emailed