Response from Virginia Beach PD
As you all may have heard, there was an illegal alien driving drunk in Virginia Beach, VA that hit and killed two girls. The VB police chief had put a policy in place in 2005, where his officers do not check for legal status of people except for serious felonies. I sent a letter to him and this was his PD's response:
Please know that being in this Country
illegally is a civil violation not a criminal violation that can, in
fact, be addressed only by the Federal Agency, the Bureau of Immigration
and Customs Enforcement (B-ICE). In the past we have contacted ICE
officials to report officer interactions with an undocumented, illegal
alien only to be consistently told by them that unless the violation is
a felony or a high profile situation, they (ICE) are not able to
respond.
It appears the reasons for that are that they are understaffed, under
funded, and, thus, overwhelmed. Make no mistake about it though, when
our officers (VBPD) make arrests, they do so for the criminal violation
that the person is involved in - It makes no difference if the violator
is here legally or illegally - they are still arrested. We have not
betrayed our oath to protect and serve.
Take Mr Ramos for example, after being arrested in Chesapeake Va (Not
Va. Beach) for DUI and Drunk in Public he was arrested in our City for
Drunk in Public prior to the fatal accident he caused. Following that
tragic accident, he was arrested and charged with aggravated involuntary
manslaughter and will experience the same level of treatment by our
courts and judicial system as you or I would if involved in the same set
of circumstances. Additionally, within 1 1/2 hours after we (the Police)
arrived at the scene, one of our officers contacted ICE who agreed to
place a detainer on Ramos to prevent him from absconding should he be
able to post a bond.
The reality of the situation is that state and local police officers do
not have the authority to "detain" and "deport" those individuals that
are in our country illegally - Only ICE agents do. We can only make the
call to them. Our policy, in turn was crafted with that "reality of the
situation" in mind, as well as the well-being of those legal immigrants
who are citizens of our community. I suggest you contact a
representative from ICE to obtain an opinion from them.
Lieutenant J.W. "Max" Hayden
Executive Aide to the Chief of Police
Virginia Beach Police Department
Municipal Center, Building 11
2509 Princess Anne Road
Virginia Beach, VA 23456
Office - (757) 385-4514
Fax - (757) 427-9163
mhayden@vbgov.com
Please know that being in this Country
illegally is a civil violation not a criminal violation that can, in
fact, be addressed only by the Federal Agency, the Bureau of Immigration
and Customs Enforcement (B-ICE). In the past we have contacted ICE
officials to report officer interactions with an undocumented, illegal
alien only to be consistently told by them that unless the violation is
a felony or a high profile situation, they (ICE) are not able to
respond.
It appears the reasons for that are that they are understaffed, under
funded, and, thus, overwhelmed. Make no mistake about it though, when
our officers (VBPD) make arrests, they do so for the criminal violation
that the person is involved in - It makes no difference if the violator
is here legally or illegally - they are still arrested. We have not
betrayed our oath to protect and serve.
Take Mr Ramos for example, after being arrested in Chesapeake Va (Not
Va. Beach) for DUI and Drunk in Public he was arrested in our City for
Drunk in Public prior to the fatal accident he caused. Following that
tragic accident, he was arrested and charged with aggravated involuntary
manslaughter and will experience the same level of treatment by our
courts and judicial system as you or I would if involved in the same set
of circumstances. Additionally, within 1 1/2 hours after we (the Police)
arrived at the scene, one of our officers contacted ICE who agreed to
place a detainer on Ramos to prevent him from absconding should he be
able to post a bond.
The reality of the situation is that state and local police officers do
not have the authority to "detain" and "deport" those individuals that
are in our country illegally - Only ICE agents do. We can only make the
call to them. Our policy, in turn was crafted with that "reality of the
situation" in mind, as well as the well-being of those legal immigrants
who are citizens of our community. I suggest you contact a
representative from ICE to obtain an opinion from them.
Lieutenant J.W. "Max" Hayden
Executive Aide to the Chief of Police
Virginia Beach Police Department
Municipal Center, Building 11
2509 Princess Anne Road
Virginia Beach, VA 23456
Office - (757) 385-4514
Fax - (757) 427-9163
mhayden@vbgov.com
0
-
Seems to me that Lt. Hayden did not dodge the issue, an answered frankly.
Did you write to ICE ??
Doug0 -
quote:Originally posted by Doug Wilson
Seems to me that Lt. Hayden did not dodge the issue, and answered frankly.
Did you write to ICE ??
Doug
* edited for spelling0 -
Seems like an honest reply even if you don't agree with it. 0 -
actually he is wrong on one point. state law enforcement authorities DO arrest and detain people on federal criminal violations. However, Virginia Beach is the same as Los Angeles, they police almost NEVER report illegal aliens to the federal authorities. Their excuse is "its a federal law, not state". However, when local authorities suspect someone of breaking any other federal law they ALWAYS contact federal authorities to report them. Just imagine if state police find out that a man has taken a minor across state lines for sex, I guess they could turn the other cheek and say "well thats a federal crime, we'll just let you go". Or what about bank robbery ? What about state police involved in federal drug laws or federal gun laws ? of kidnapping ?
The fact of the matter is that state police agencies are now intentionally ignoring violators of FEDERAL LAW and pretending they have no authority to do anything about it.0 -
maybe gun dealers should take the same approach. when the government makes them do a background check they should just say "thats the responsibility of the federal government" 0 -
Newt,
If I'm not mistaken, it is against their self-imposed rules for LAPD to ask if someone is here legally or not.[xx(]
I have wondered why it is California is the only state in the union that has border patrol stations facing the rest of the United States. The answer only serves to anger me.0 -
"The reality of the situation is that state and local police officers donot have the authority to "detain" and "deport" those individuals that are in our country illegally - Only ICE agents do."
This is wrong, if they see a violation occurring any LEO can enforce Federal Law.
Sounds like the LT is passing the buck.
Trinity +++0 -
quote:Originally posted by TrinityScrimshaw
"The reality of the situation is that state and local police officers donot have the authority to "detain" and "deport" those individuals that are in our country illegally - Only ICE agents do."
This wrong, if they see a violation occurring any LEO can enforce Federal Law.
Sounds like the LT is passing the buck.
Trinity +++
I think he is passing the buck too. His dept could easily get ICE training for his officers, just like other depts have, and then they could enforce the immigration stuff. I sent a reply back to him with that, he has not gotten back to me on that yet.0
Please sign in to leave a comment.
Comments
8 comments