More Cops Reject Controversial Arizona Immigration Law, SB 1070

America's Voice Blog

Posted 05/04/10 at 04:39pm

From local Arizona cops to top police chiefs, with expertise in community policing, law enforcement is taking a firm stand against Arizona's controversial new immigration law, SB 1070.

Over the weekend, Chief Art Acevedo of Austin, TX wrote an op-ed in the Austin American-Statesman warning that Governor Jan Brewer and the Arizona legislators who signed the law "declared open season for criminals to target immigrants" and "killed community policing in the state." Chief Acevedo says Arizona's own history with crime shows why the new law is dangerous:

“During his tenure as chief of police in Mesa, George Gascon, now the chief in San Francisco, focused the efforts of his police officers on the reduction of crime through the COMPSTAT process — the use of historical and real-time crime data to deploy resources and fight crime — and resisted calls to have his officers engage in immigration enforcement. On the other end of the spectrum, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio ordered his deputies to aggressively conduct immigration enforcement operations. Arpaio publicly chided Gascon for refusing to adopt his approach. Results of these divergent approaches speak for themselves: During the same three-year period, Mesa residents experienced a 30 percent reduction in crime and Maricopa County residents were subjected to a marked increase in crime, especially violent crime.”

Cops in Arizona are also opposed to the new law. Phoenix Chief Jack Harris told Reuters:

“I don't really believe that this law is going to do what the vast majority of Americans and Arizonans want, and that is to fix the immigration problem. This law adds new problems for local law enforcement.”

Tucson Chief Roberto Villaseñor pointed out to the Washington Post:

"no matter which way we go, there are lawsuits in the wings."

And Tucson Sergeant Russ Charlton told the Post what every sensible law enforcement professional has been thinking -- when officers' first priority is to catch violent criminals, tracking down nonviolent immigrants seems like a waste of time:

"If they're not doing anything, they're just being normal people. Why would I do that?"

For a full roundup of police opposition to Arizona's new law, click here.