Council member and mayoral hopeful Thomas Stith says current city policy says "yes," although police actions say "no."

At Stith's suggestion, the City Council decided Thursday to review its policy on how and when police check the immigration status of people they arrest.

Also Thursday, council members met for more than two hours behind closed doors to discuss a potential civil lawsuit that could be filed by former Duke lacrosse players once charged with rape.

The council was briefed on the meeting Wednesday between the players' attorneys and city legal staff.

No city officials would comment about their discussion.

In open session, Stith instigated the immigration policy debate, lobbing the hot potato in the general direction of his incumbent opponent, Mayor Bill Bell.

Durham has been saddled with the label "sanctuary city" by advocates for strict enforcement of immigration laws, such as Jon Ham of the John Locke Foundation.

The label is tied to a policy approved in 2003 by the City Council that says Durham police "may not request specific documents for the sole purpose of determining a person's civil immigration status and may not initiate police action based solely on a person's civil immigration status."

Stith sent out a news release Thursday morning through his campaign manager calling for that policy to change.

"We need to be clear that Durham will not discriminate and that police officers will not question individuals merely because of the way they look or talk," he said in the release. "However, individuals who have violated the law may be asked their legal status."

But Deputy Police Chief Ron Hodge told the council Thursday afternoon that police do run the names of people arrested through federal and state databases.

If the person appears on a list of those in violation of immigration laws, Durham police notify Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials and detain the person.

This prompted Bell to dispute the sanctuary city tag.

"I didn't want to get hung up with us being defined as a sanctuary, when in fact we're not a sanctuary as explained by Deputy Chief Hodge," Bell said.

Stith didn't object to the way Hodge said the police handle immigration issues, but he said he still wants a new resolution.

"I think there's a disconnect between the policy and the practice," he said.

Hodge said police would review the 2003 resolution and suggest any clarifications or changes that might be needed. The council will discuss the matter in two weeks at the next council work session.