Associated Press
PHOENIX, Arizona -- A union for police officers broke with leaders of the Phoenix Police Department on Monday in calling for an end to an immigration policy that the union says makes streets in the nation’s fifth largest city more dangerous.
The policy prevents police officers from asking federal immigration authorities for assistance in situations where illegal immigrants commit civil traffic violations.
The restriction and other city rules for handling illegal immigrants have long been criticized by advocates for tough border enforcement, who reject the long-held notion that immigration is a sole responsibility of the federal government. But such criticism has never surfaced publicly from the officers themselves.
“If we allow a little bit of lawlessness, what prevents more lawlessness from occurring,” asked Mark Spencer, president of the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association, which represents more than 2,200 officers and detectives in the Phoenix Police Department.
Posted by tyne at October 10, 2007