Thread: 57 POLICE CHIEFS DECIDE IMMIGRATION POLICY

There is an organization called "MAJOR CITIES CHIEFS ASSOCIATION," that sets policy for most major cities in the matter of immigration as well as other matters. It is comprised of close to 60 chiefs. They have decided what can and cannot be asked in duties and have chosen to not ask immigration status in many cases.

It is not that Police cannot ask immigration status when conducting basic traffic duties or misdemeanor citations, it is that they have deemed it frought with problems and civil liability, so they choose not to ask the immigration status.

Major Cities Chiefs Statement on Immigration

June 8, 2006 -- As president of the Major Cities Chiefs Association, Houston Police Chief Harold Hurtt announced today the adoption of nine recommendations for the United States Congress and the President to assist in resolving the immigration crisis facing America today. Members of the Major Cities Chiefs Association, comprised of the largest police agencies in America, are the first responders to over fifty million residents. We are very concerned that the public policy under consideration does not take into full account the realities of local law enforcement in dealing with this issue on the ground. The foundation of the nine-point position statement is five key concerns with local police enforcing federal immigration law. These concerns are:

It undermines the trust and cooperation with immigrant communities that are essential elements of community oriented policing.
Local agencies do not possess adequate resources to enforce these laws in addition to the added responsibility of homeland security.
Immigration laws are very complex and the training required to understand them would significantly detract from the core mission of the local police to create safe communities.
Local police do not posses clear authority to enforce the civil aspects of these laws. If given the authority the federal government does not have the capacity to handle the volume of immigration violations that currently exist.
The lack of clear authority increases the risk of civil liability for local police and government. Given these concerns the Major Cities Chiefs are recommending that Congress and the President adopt the following nine points:
1. Securing the borders must be a top priority.
2. Enforcement of the laws prohibiting the hiring of illegal immigrants.
3. Consulting and involving local police agencies when developing any immigration initiative is imperative if the initiative is to involve local agencies.
4. Federal law must not mandate local enforcement of federal law - all law enforcement initiatives must be completely voluntary.
5. There should be no reduction or shifting of current federal funding for state and local programs to pay for new immigration enforcement activities
6. Any initiative involving local police agencies should be incentive based
7. The authority and limitation of liability for local law enforcement officers and police agencies must be clear.
8. Civil immigration detainers must be removed from the NCIC system
9. MCC members are united in their commitment to continue arresting anyone who violates the criminal laws of their jurisdictions regardless of the immigration status of the perpetrator.

Most local police agencies have adopted policies of not inquiring about immigration status of individuals that are reporting crimes or in other encounters unless the person is suspected of committing a crime. Those policies have developed over the past 25 years because of law enforcement's commitment to provide protection to everyone within their jurisdiction and more recently because of state and federal laws prohibiting racial profiling.

In addition, the federal government does not have the capacity to deal with the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the US today. As Congress and the President wrestle with these difficult issues it is important that national policy reflect a clear understanding of the enormous challenges that local police face in dealing with illegal immigration.

http://www.houstontx.gov/police/nr/2006/nr060806-1.htm

http://www.neiassociates.org/

http://www.neiassociates.org/about.htm

http://www.neiassociates.org/bod2006-07.pdf

Major Cities Chiefs Association
The Major Cities Chiefs Association (MCCA) is one of the nation's most prestigious and influential law enforcement organizations. It is housed in the Division of Public Safety Leadership.

The membership of the Major Cities Chiefs Association comprises 64 major law enforcement organizations in the United States and Canada. The association was formed in the early 1960s by several chiefs of police who sought a forum to discuss issues relevant to large police organizations. The MCCA has expanded its membership to include suburban police departments, large metropolitan sheriff’s departments, and the largest departments in Canada.

MCCA has significant influence on matters related to crime resolution, federal funding of police initiatives, and more. MCCA participates with all leading law enforcement associations and organizations, including the Law Enforcement Steering Committee, to improve the profession and service to the public and communities.

Current membership in MCCA is limited to chief executive officers of departments located within metropolitan areas that serve a population of more than 500,000. Member departments must employ more than 1,000 law enforcement officers.

For more information, visit the Major Cities Chiefs Associations site or call 410-312-4415.

http://psl.jhu.edu/partnerships/organiz ... cities.cfm

M.C.C. NINE (9) POINT POSITION
STATEMENT
ENFORCEMENT OF IMMIGRATION
LAWS BY LOCAL POLICE AGENCIES
A. STATEMENT OF ISSUE
Illegal immigration is a problem that faces our nation and society as a whole and one, which
must be dealt with at the national level. It is absolutely critical that our country develop a
consistent unified national plan to deal with immigration and this plan must include the critical
component of securing our borders to prevent illegal entry into the United States.
Since the horrendous attacks of September 11, 2001, local law enforcement has been called
upon to do its part in protecting the nation from future terrorist attacks. The response of local
law enforcement to the call to protect the homeland has been tremendous. Today, local police
agencies stand as the first line of defense here at home to prevent future attacks. Local law
enforcement’s unending efforts include providing additional training and equipment to officers,
increasing communication and coordination with federal agencies, gathering, assessing and
sharing intelligence, modifying patrol methods and increasing security for potential targets such
as power plants, airports, monuments, ports and other critical facilities and infrastructure. Much
of these efforts have been at a high cost to local budgets and resources.
The federal government and others have also called upon local police agencies to become
involved in the enforcement of federal immigration laws as part of the effort to protect the
nation. This issue has been a topic of great debate in the law enforcement community since
September 11. The call for local enforcement of federal immigration laws has become more
prominent during the debate over proposed immigration reform at the national level.
Major city police departments have a long undeniable history of working with federal law
enforcement agencies to address crime in the United States whether committed by citizens,
visitors, and/or illegal immigrants. Local police agencies have not turned a blind eye to crimes
related to illegal immigration. They have and continue to work daily with federal agencies
whenever possible and to the extent allowable under state criminal law enforcement authority to
address crimes such as human trafficking and gang violence which have a nexus with illegal
immigration.

http://www.houstontx.gov/police/pdfs/mcc_position.pdf

Terrorism should be dealt with on the national level as well. Let's contact these people to encourage them to take the same "not my department" attitude towards that threat. Perhaps have the number of Americans killed by illegals and compare it to the amount killed by "terrorists."

From
Immigration News and Tips
U.S. cities resist enforcing immigration
By politicalgateway.com
Jun 21, 2006 - 1:07:00 PM

Major U.S. cities are resisting helping federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials in catching illegal immigrants, USA Today reported Tuesday.

While ICE has gained the support of state police in Alabama and Florida and about five other sheriff's and corrections agencies in the south, many major city mayors and police chiefs are not willing to get involved, the report said.

The Major Cities Chiefs Association, which represents 57 big city police chiefs, said helping identify those suspected only of being in the country illegally could backfire.

"Vulnerable people have always needed to see the police as being there to protect and serve, and that can't happen when the first words out of a cop's mouth are, 'I need to see your papers,'" Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak said.

Chicago police and city workers have been prohibited from asking immigrants about their legal status, and New York City's public hospitals said they would keep an immigrant's legal status secret, the newspaper said.

http://www.fijiworldnews.com/news/publi ... nter.shtml

The members of the Major Cities Chiefs Association have obviously forgotten their sworn oath to protect the citizens they're responsible for and to! How many more American citizens must die at the hands of illegals before police leadership starts to understand the real issue involved here?

I was talking to a friend today; he told me that he has been calling our local government and asking them who to contact to report an illegal alien. They gave him the runaround and some just hung up on him. No one would answer his question. This is in Nashville TN. I wish that some of the non-traitors in the Federal government would bring this fact out. The laws are NOT being enforced at all levels of government. It's like a conspiracy on a grand scale; like one of those horror movies where the hero discovers that EVERYONE turns out to be the bad guy and he doesn't know where to turn.
Even the media (television,radio,newspapers) are against us. It's hard to get the truth out when the local news only report sob stories about the "poor" immigrants.