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Date: April 30, 2024 Tue
Time: 12:09 am
Time: 12:09 am
Results for police-community relations (georgia)
1 results foundAuthor: American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia Title: Terror and Isolation in Cobb: How Unchecked Police Power under 287(g) Has Torn Families Apart and Threatened Public Safety Summary: The Cobb County Sheriff’s Office is one of seventy‐seven state and local law enforcement agencies across the country and one of five agencies in Georgia that are involved in a program known as 287(g), made possible through section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). The 287(g) program allows local law enforcement representatives to act as immigration officers and participate in enforcement of federal civil immigration laws, per a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the Department of Homeland Security Immigration and Customs and Enforcement (ICE). Though initially intended as a measure to combat violent crime and other felonies such as gang activity and drug trafficking, 287(g) agreements have come to undermine police work as immigrant communities, fearful of being deported and leery of local, de facto immigration officers, hesitate to report crime. The Major Cities Chiefs Association and the Police Foundation have both found that participating in 287(g) programs has harmed community policing efforts. In addition, law enforcement agencies that reallocate limited resources towards nonviolent crimes, such as driving without a license or lack of insurance, may have scarce means left with which to combat crimes of violence and other felonies. The 287(g) program has also encouraged and served as a justification for racial profiling and human rights violations by some local enforcement officers acting as immigration agents. Across the country, there have been several well‐documented instances of 287(g)‐related racial profiling. Some actions of local law enforcement have even prompted federal investigations and lawsuits. In Maricopa County, Arizona, Sheriff Joe Arpaio was given “the largest and most comprehensive 287(g) contract in the nation." With these added powers, he rounded up large numbers of immigrants, often without probable cause, launching a “criminal illegal alien” crackdown which caused widespread terror in Maricopa County. In August 2009, the ACLU of Arizona filed a lawsuit against Arpaio’s office, for picking up a son driving his father to work and detaining them for hours without probable cause. Despite showing the arresting officers proof of their legal presence in the U.S., the father, a legal permanent resident, and the son, a U.S. citizen, were taken to a detention center after being picked up for what they thought was a routine traffic stop. There they were denied food and water and access to a restroom for several hours.xi In addition, the Justice Department started an investigation against Sheriff Joe Arpaio in March 2009 for possible civil rights violations, including racial profiling and unlawful search and seizure, while exercising immigration enforcement under 287(g). here are disturbing indications suggesting that race may be a guiding factor in determining in which jurisdictions 287(g) agreements continue to be put into effect. The Cobb County Sheriff’s Office entered into an MOA with the Department of Homeland Security to participate in the 287(g) program on February 13, 2007. The MOA authorized 12 sheriff deputies within the Cobb County Sheriff’s Department who have gone through the ICE training to perform immigration screens of any person arrested and brought to the Cobb County jail. Additionally, per an agreement between the Cobb Sheriff’s Office and ICE known as the Inter‐Governmental Service Agreement (IGSA), the jailxx is permitted to hold people believed to be immigration violators for up to seventy‐two hours before they are transferred to ICE custody. program has been implemented, Cobb officers have misused the authority granted to them under the agreement and engaged in racial profiling, resulting in the propagation of widespread fear and mistrust towards law enforcement within immigrant communities in Cobb County, specifically the Latino community. Interviews with community members and advocates have shown that Cobb County residents who appear to be foreign‐born have been subjected to rampant racial profiling and are routinely picked up by the police for minor or non‐existent violations. Furthermore, many immigrants in Cobb County are afraid to call the police for help, a fear exploited by perpetrators of violent crimes and robberies who know they will not face repercussions if they attack immigrants. Families have been torn apart as people are arrested on their way to conduct everyday business, leaving many wary of leaving their homes. As immigrants feel that they cannot trust local law enforcement, even to report crime, a public safety crisis has ensued for citizens and non‐citizens alike. In Cobb, members of the immigrant community live their daily lives in terror as Cobb law enforcement and jail personnel abuse the power afforded to them by their contract with ICE. Cobb County law enforcement agents are committing egregious Constitutional and human rights violations under the cloak of federal civil immigration law enforcement. There is no meaningful check in place to ensure that local law enforcement do not abuse the program by intimidating and racially profiling immigrant communities in Cobb County. A Government Accountability Office (GAO) investigation earlier this year found that ICE was not exercising proper oversight over local or state agencies. This problem is compounded in Georgia, as there is currently no state legislation banning racial profiling and mandating accountability and transparency for law enforcement. In addition, complaint mechanisms provided in the MOA have not been at all publicized in Cobb County and community members are unaware of their existence. As interviews with community members and advocates indicate that law enforcement in Cobb have abused the 287(g) power by engaging in racial profiling and human rights violations and because 287(g) has led to an atmosphere of terror and a less safer community for all residents of Cobb County, the ACLU of Georgia strongly urges both Cobb County and ICE not to renew the 287(g) agreement. If the program is to continue, local, state, and federal authorities need to create meaningful mechanisms for accountability and oversight. The primary purpose of this report is to show the human impact of 287(g) and the impact on community safety in Cobb County. As such, the primary source of information for this report is interviews with community members who have been directly affected by the implementation of 287(g) as well as community advocates and attorneys who interact on a daily basis with immigrant communities in Cobb County and have born witness to its impact. Dozens of community members in Cobb County were interviewed for this report. The testimony of ten of them is featured here. Only first names are used in this report in order to protect the privacy of the interviewees. A secondary source of information for this report is records provided by the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office per an ACLU of Georgia Open Records Request. Details: Atlanta, GA: American Civil Liberties Union and Foundation of Georgia, 2009. 27p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 20, 2012 at http://www.aclu.org/files/intlhumanrights/immigrantsrights/asset_upload_file306_41281.pdf Year: 2009 Country: United States URL: http://www.aclu.org/files/intlhumanrights/immigrantsrights/asset_upload_file306_41281.pdf Shelf Number: 124615 Keywords: Detention Practices (Georgia)Police Behavior (Georgia)Police Policies and Procedures (Georgia)Police-Community Relations (Georgia)Racial Profiling (Georgia) |