Issue link: http://cp.revolio.com/i/1731
20 AMERICAN POLICE BEAT: MAY 2009 As of this writing, Salter remains in Ben Taub Hos- pital with critical wounds. "We can't deport people," White explained. "That is the job of the federal gov- ernment, and we're calling on the federal government to do their job." To be sure, Mr. Mayor, the Houston Police Offi cers Union joins you in urging Washington to live up to its clear responsibilities; but today we also are calling on you, along with Gov. Rick Perry and other state and local leaders, to fi nally rec- ognize state and local gov- ernments also have a vitally important and necessary role to play in addressing illegal immigration. It's time for you to do your job as well. For starters, you should amend or scrap the 17-year- old Houston Police Depart- ment policy (General Order No. 500-5), which firmly states that "offi cers shall not inquire as to the citizenship status of any person, nor will offi cers detain or arrest any persons solely on the belief that they are in this country illegally." It is outrageous to learn that, as recently as Novem- ber of last year, you were fully aware that thousands of illegal immigrants eligible for deportation — all con- victed felons like Joel Alfaro — were slipping through Houston's jails undetected by federal immigration of- ficials. You rightly noted the city of Houston "can't deport people;" but isn't that particularly true if the city policy you have repeat- edly defended intentionally discourages our offi - cers from reporting them? We welcome your new support for the 287(g) program that lets HPD train and coordinate with fed- eral immigration officials — and other new pledges of enhanced re- sources and cooperation — but you can do more. We also hope you will act immediately to change Houston's status as a so- called "sanctuary city" as outlined at www.houstontx. gov/moira. "The policy of [Mayor's Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs] is to en- courage access by all per- sons residing in the city of Houston, regardless of nation of birth or current citizenship status, to the full benefi ts, opportunities and services which are provided and administered by the city of Houston." Why does this matter? A recent study by the Govern- ment Accountability Offi ce found that the 55,322 crimi- nal immigrants they tracked were arrested a total of at least 459,614 times — aver- aging over eight arrests per immigrant. The Department of Justice conducted its own research and found that the 73 crimi- nal immigrants in their study group were ar- rested a total of 429 times — or roughly six arrests per immigrant. For all of your good intentions, Mr. Mayor, the question has to be raised if this de facto "sanctuary" policy is attract- ing habitual criminals like Alfaro — or Juan Quintero, the illegal immigrant who shot and killed HPD offi cer Rodney Johnson in 2006 — to our community. Meanwhile, Gov. Perry, county and state leaders like you can, and must, do more as well. When you get right down to it, the integrity of our federal im- migration system is largely dependent on the validity of documents issued by our state and county. Every year, hundreds if not thousands of illegal immigrants enter Texas in broad daylight thanks to marriage fraud — to cite one example. For all of your hot rhetoric about border secu- The policy is to encourage access regardless of nation of birth or current citizenship status, to the full benefi ts, opportunities and services. Continued from page one Continued on page 38 Texas Governor Rick Perry Houston Mayor Bill White Army soldiers guard a police station in the border city of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico recently. As retired and active-duty soldiers largely took over security in the violence-wracked city of 1.3 million, a retired Army offi cer took over as head of police. The last law enforcement chief resigned after receiving threats – which are frequently carried out with deadly results. Policy is a deadly threat AP Photo Circle number 106 on the Reader Service Card. 4RAINED 0OLICE $OGS s $RUG $ETECTOR $OGS ODORS s %XPLOSIVE $ETECTOR $OGS ODORS s )MPORT 0OLICE #ERTIl ED $OGS s 4RACKER $OGS s 0ATROL $ETECTOR $OGS !DDITIONALLY 'LOBAL OFFERS 3UPERVISORY 4RAINING !NNUAL %VALUATIONS#ERTIl CATIONS 4RAINER 4RAINING /VER DOGS IN THE 53 AND AROUND THE WORLD (ANDLER TRAINING INCLUDED IN THE PURCHASE PRICE #ONTRACT SEARCHES AVAILABLE -ANY TYPES AND SERVICES AVAILABLE 'LOBAL 4RAINING !CADEMY )NC s WWWKGTACOM s 4EXAS 0) ,ICENSE #/ 0/ "OX 3OMERSET 48