Zine wants to amend LAPD policy on immigrants
Councilman proposes updating Special Order 40 by mandating that officers report gang members here illegally to federal authorities.
LAPD officers would be required to report gang members found to be illegal immigrants to federal authorities under a proposal to be introduced in the Los Angeles City Council today. The proposal, by Councilman Dennis Zine, a former LAPD officer, would result in a closer relationship between the department and Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials and is likely to generate controversy.
The plan comes amid a new debate over Special Order 40, a Los Angeles Police Department rule that defines when officers can inquire about the immigration status of suspects. The 29-year-old rule is a cornerstone of the department's policy toward immigrants and is designed to encourage illegal residents who are victims of crimes or witnesses to cooperate with police without fear of deportation.
Zine described his plan as a modification to Special Order 40 that would formalize how police deal with illegal immigrant gang members. Under the proposal, LAPD officers who are investigating gang members who they believe are illegal immigrants would be required to check on their immigration status -- even if the suspects are not under arrest.
If the gang member is found to be in the country illegally, officers would be required to notify immigration authorities. Zine said the hope was that federal officials would take the gang members into custody.
"If an officer stops an individual . . . who is determined to be a gang member, and it's determined they are also illegally here, then the department should notify immigration," Zine said. "It directs the resources against the gangs. Immigration needs to use its resources to go after gangs."
Zine's proposal would not overturn Special Order 40, which states that "officers shall not initiate police action with the objective of discovering the alien status of a person." But Zine's amendment would be more specific as to how officers can inquire into the immigration status of suspected gang members.
LAPD Deputy Chief Sergio Diaz said such actions were not directly prohibited by Special Order 40. Some officers already check the immigration status of gang members they detain -- but others don't because they believe it's not permitted under department rules.
Diaz said the new rules would spell out how officers deal with such cases.
