Raleigh Police Chief Harry Patrick Dolan has joined an effort to defeat a proposal in Arizona to force police there to ask about the immigration status of anyone they suspect is in the country illegally.
The measure would also allow citizens to sue police and sheriff's departments if they felt they were not sufficiently enforcing immigration laws. The Arizona legislature has passed the bill and sent it to Gov. Jan Brewer, who has not said whether she will sign it into law.
On Wednesday, Dolan joined his counterparts from San Francisco and Colorado Springs in a national telephone news conference to warn that the bill would distract police from combating other crimes and would foster distrust among immigrants and minorities. The chiefs said they worry that other states will consider similar legislation.
"Absent the guidance of the federal government, we are going to see more and more states come up with legislation to deal with avery complex national issue," Dolan said.
The news conference, sponsored by the Arizona Association of Chiefs of Police, raised Dolan's profile on an emotional issue that divides people in law enforcement as it does the rest of society. Though the association opposes the bill, the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association, or PLEA, supports it.
"The law is based on the concept of reasonable suspicion," said Mark Spencer, president of PLEA. "That's a standard measure that's carried out by law enforcement on a daily basis."
Spencer said the crimes of identity theft, kidnapping and homicide all have a common thread in Arizona: illegal immigration.
"It is a crime that has a myriad of other crimes swirling around it," he said. "Police managers who are driving their desks are out of touch with officers who drive cars."
Key is accountability
The PLEA president said the right of citizens to bring lawsuits against departments they perceive as not enforcing immigration laws is a matter of accountability.
"Police departments are now going to be held accountable with how they handle immigration," he said.
But during the news conference with Dolan, San Francisco Police Chief George Gascon, who was formerly police chief in Mesa, Ariz., said such a law would essentially require racial profiling by officers. He noted that rank-and-file officers would inevitably come up with their own characteristics based on physical appearance and accent to determine whether someone might be in the U.S. illegally.
Ill effects predicted
"It would have a negative impact on community policing and public safety," Gascon said. "Neighbors [in Hispanic neighborhoods] would be more hesitant to report crimes if they think their neighbors and family are here without authority."
Dolan said that if the North Carolinalegislature mandated such a law that it would stretch already limited resources and distract police departments from their core mission: reducing and preventing crimes against people and property.
Dolan said stemming illegal immigration is a federal responsibility.
"I look to Washington to give us some leadership," Dolan said. "I would like the federal government to step up to the fact that the immigration issue has to be resolved."
Spencer, of the Phoenix police association, agrees.
"We would love for the federal government to do its job," he said. "But would you just stand there and let your house burn when you have a fire hose called the Arizona legislature to put the fire out?"
The Arizona bill requires a larger role in immigration for local law enforcement officers than the 287 (g) program, a local-federal partnership that allows local jailers to examine the immigration status of foreign-born inmates and begin deportation proceedings. Wake County is one of six North Carolina counties enrolled in the program.
Civil liberties and Hispanic advocacy groups worry that the program allows for racial profiling and carries heavy consequences for illegal immigrants caught on relatively minor offenses, such as driving without a license. But Wake Sheriff Donnie Harrison has said the program, which started in July in Wake County, is an important tool to rid the county of illegal immigrants who are committing crimes.
Harrison was not available for comment Wednesday about the Arizona legislation.
