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NJ Latinos Discuss Profiling with State AG
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by urbano411 | September 9, 2007 at 06:34 am
530 views | 2 Recommendations | 4 comments
A group of Latino leaders welcomed the chance to have a dialogue with state Attorney General Anne Milgram on Saturday concerning her recent order to local law-enforcement agencies to inquire about the immigration status of people they arrest. The leaders, however, have some reservations about the implementation of the directive.Members of the Latino Leadership Alliance of New Jersey met with Milgram at the Days Hotel & Conference Center in East Brunswick to discuss the directive, which specifies that police may only ask about someone's immigration status when they're being arrested for an indictable offense or for driving while intoxicated. Victims and witnesses are not subject to inquiries.
"We welcome these guidelines, but we have concerns," said Martin Perez, president of the alliance. "We understand the attorney general has good intentions but we have to make sure there's a mechanism to make changes in the guidelines."
Perez said Latinos are often portrayed unfairly in society and emphasized that they are integral to the community with homes, jobs and memberships in chambers of commerce.
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (4)
at 07:01 on September 9th, 2007
urbano411, good stuff. It's an issue across the country. We began having an influx of illegals (of various origins), plus an influx of drugs, with many arrests made in that community. Unofficially, our officers run status on anyone arrested who they think may not be a citizen. If they're not, by the time they're booked and in jail, INS has been called.
Is that profiling? Or good policing. Since I know the department and the procedures (and they're not just Latino-oriented), I vote: good policing.
But I can see why others might feel differently. But if you're illegal, don't do a driving violation or a crime, or common sense says you'll get caught as an illegal!
at 15:26 on September 9th, 2007
I'm for good policing also. But we need to make sure there are over sights in place to avoid bad habits from forming. Good training, equal representation and strong leadership working with the community, will always put criminals were they need to be. And I have always believed that a person should really never commit more then one crime at a time. If your not here legally then you should not break any further laws. The odds of getting caught stack up against you.
at 15:38 on September 9th, 2007
I'm not organized enough to commit more than one crime at a time.
But seriously, folks, I agree: once police begin "looking closer" at people they believe to be immigrants, we very easily stray into the world of racial profiling. I went to school with a guy who's now a cop in California, who has evidently strayed down the dark path: a mutual friend did a ride-along and was shocked by how the officer would see a black guy driving and just start following him, saying, "sooner or later he'll do something wrong". That stuff really scares me.
at 18:50 on September 9th, 2007
Jordan i understand that ideally , 'No Racial Profiling'. Reality is I don't believe it exist anywhere. The idea of believing that the science of police work can exist without profiling is not very realistic. Race is part of a perp profile, it's always there. 11 o'clock headlines, "...thought to be hispanic..." ,"african american suspect...", it's always part of the profile. So I offer as a solution real training that make for better investigative work, more diversity on the force (i happen to be friends with present & former Latino cops who's presence on the force helped Latinos in the community), and leaders that understand that a good police force must be a real community member.
As for bad cops, we can not be so dismissive of solutions that help remove criminals from our streets because we believe that cops will inevitably be or behave as racist. A real well lead force will weed those members out of the force, just like the bad members of our neighborhoods must be weeded out. What worries me most is while we continue to worry about sooner or later some dumbass cop doing somethimg wrong, there are criminals do wrong things right now. I have a genuine concern for the young people of my community and their future. My heart tells me to look for solutions even though my head is well aware of the problems. P.S. I'm not organized enough either, besides it's a multi-task world!