A Phoenix neighborhood protest against Maricopa County Sheriff Joe
Arpaio on Thursday resulted in one person being arrested and another
claiming Phoenix police roughed her up.
Abraham Hernandez, 21, was booked on disorderly conduct charges, said Sgt. Steve Martos, a Phoenix police spokesman.
Another woman, who refused to give her name, said a Phoenix police
officer pushed her once into a squad car and another time to the floor. A
woman who was with her gave the same account to The Republic.
Martos confirmed that an officer pushed an individual, who fell to the floor, after a group of people rushed the officers.
Arpaio was at Manzanita Elementary School, 8430 N. 39th Ave., to speak at a neighborhood group meeting, Martos said.
"Phoenix police officers were at Manzanita to ensure it was peaceful,"
Martos said. "(Hernandez) kept pushing the envelope, telling people to
ignore commands."
After Arpaio had left, the Phoenix officers arrested Hernandez, who was told not to return to the property.
"(Hernandez) was not allowed in the meeting or on the property," Martos
said. "He came back at the end where he was throwing something in the
garbage."
That's when officers circled him and arrested him, Martos said.
A number of individuals ran back toward the officers as they were trying to get Hernandez into the police car, Martos said.
"They vast majority of the community understands that when an officer is
taking law enforcement action, you can't rush or run toward him, or try
to stop him from making an arrest," Martos said.
Opal Tometi, who was at the protest, said another woman started questioning the officers.
"Why are you taking him? On what grounds?" Tometi said. The woman leaned
in when Hernandez was being placed in the car and that's when an
officer pushed the woman into a squad car.
"She wasn't getting physical with the officer," Tometi said. A few moments later the same woman was pushed to the ground.
Martos defends the officers' right to keep the peace.
"You rush at officers, you may get pushed back or get pushed to the
ground. Our hope is be able to protect everyone's right to voice their
opinion."
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/09/17/20100917sheriff-joe-arpaio-protest-arrest-officer-rough-brk.html
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Friday, September 17, 2010
Sheriff Joe Arpaio protest ends in arrest for man, officer pushing woman
A Phoenix neighborhood protest against Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio on Thursday resulted in one person being arrested and another claiming Phoenix police roughed her up.
Abraham Hernandez, 21, was booked on disorderly conduct charges, said Sgt. Steve Martos, a Phoenix police spokesman.
Another woman, who refused to give her name, said a Phoenix police officer pushed her once into a squad car and another time to the floor. A woman who was with her gave the same account to The Republic.
Martos confirmed that an officer pushed an individual, who fell to the floor, after a group of people rushed the officers.
Arpaio was at Manzanita Elementary School, 8430 N. 39th Ave., to speak at a neighborhood group meeting, Martos said.
"Phoenix police officers were at Manzanita to ensure it was peaceful," Martos said. "(Hernandez) kept pushing the envelope, telling people to ignore commands."
After Arpaio had left, the Phoenix officers arrested Hernandez, who was told not to return to the property.
"(Hernandez) was not allowed in the meeting or on the property," Martos said. "He came back at the end where he was throwing something in the garbage."
That's when officers circled him and arrested him, Martos said.
A number of individuals ran back toward the officers as they were trying to get Hernandez into the police car, Martos said.
"They vast majority of the community understands that when an officer is taking law enforcement action, you can't rush or run toward him, or try to stop him from making an arrest," Martos said.
Opal Tometi, who was at the protest, said another woman started questioning the officers.
"Why are you taking him? On what grounds?" Tometi said. The woman leaned in when Hernandez was being placed in the car and that's when an officer pushed the woman into a squad car.
"She wasn't getting physical with the officer," Tometi said. A few moments later the same woman was pushed to the ground.
Martos defends the officers' right to keep the peace.
"You rush at officers, you may get pushed back or get pushed to the ground. Our hope is be able to protect everyone's right to voice their opinion."
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/09/17/20100917sheriff-joe-arpaio-pro\
test-arrest-officer-rough-brk.html
Abraham Hernandez, 21, was booked on disorderly conduct charges, said Sgt. Steve Martos, a Phoenix police spokesman.
Another woman, who refused to give her name, said a Phoenix police officer pushed her once into a squad car and another time to the floor. A woman who was with her gave the same account to The Republic.
Martos confirmed that an officer pushed an individual, who fell to the floor, after a group of people rushed the officers.
Arpaio was at Manzanita Elementary School, 8430 N. 39th Ave., to speak at a neighborhood group meeting, Martos said.
"Phoenix police officers were at Manzanita to ensure it was peaceful," Martos said. "(Hernandez) kept pushing the envelope, telling people to ignore commands."
After Arpaio had left, the Phoenix officers arrested Hernandez, who was told not to return to the property.
"(Hernandez) was not allowed in the meeting or on the property," Martos said. "He came back at the end where he was throwing something in the garbage."
That's when officers circled him and arrested him, Martos said.
A number of individuals ran back toward the officers as they were trying to get Hernandez into the police car, Martos said.
"They vast majority of the community understands that when an officer is taking law enforcement action, you can't rush or run toward him, or try to stop him from making an arrest," Martos said.
Opal Tometi, who was at the protest, said another woman started questioning the officers.
"Why are you taking him? On what grounds?" Tometi said. The woman leaned in when Hernandez was being placed in the car and that's when an officer pushed the woman into a squad car.
"She wasn't getting physical with the officer," Tometi said. A few moments later the same woman was pushed to the ground.
Martos defends the officers' right to keep the peace.
"You rush at officers, you may get pushed back or get pushed to the ground. Our hope is be able to protect everyone's right to voice their opinion."
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/09/17/20100917sheriff-joe-arpaio-pro\
test-arrest-officer-rough-brk.html
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Tucson Group “Polices” the Police on Immigration
TUCSON, Ariz.— A coalition of community groups in Tuscon is using video to show how readily police are cooperating with Border Patrol, despite local law enforcement’s stated opposition to Arizona’s new immigration law before it took effect.
The “Yo Soy Testigo” ("I’m a witness") campaign, launched by Tucson-based Coalición Derechos Humanos, seeks to shine a light on the practice of police cooperation with Border Patrol in the city.
The group, in partnership with PanLeft Productions and Migra Patrol CopWatch, has been using video cameras to document just how often police officers are detaining Latinos—with or without documents—and turning them over to immigration authorities. The group hopes that the videos will increase community awareness of how police are really treating Latinos, despite their supposed opposition to SB1070, and will pressure law enforcement to change its policies.
“We want to expose this reality and for people in the community to take responsibility,” said Isabel Garcia, director of Coalición de Derechos Humanos. She urges people to call the Yo Soy Testigo hotline to report any incidents so they can be videotaped and documented.
Prior to SB 1070, local police departments and other state agencies already had their own policies to detain undocumented immigrants on a discretionary basis. Had a court allowed the new law to take full effect, such detentions would have become mandatory throughout Arizona.
But the mandatory detention provision of SB 1070 provoked a strong outcry from the state's local law officers.
“We are not interested in enforcing federal immigration law,” said Captain Michael Gillooly, the Tucson Police Department's chief of staff. “The problem with SB 1070 is that it mandated we did that.”
In an interview with the Arizona Daily Star in July, Tucson Police Chief Roberto Villasenor said: “Although illegal immigration has undeniable impacts on Arizona, requiring local police already strapped for resources to act as immigration agents is not the answer.”
The Pima County Sheriff's Department and the South Tucson Police Department also opposed SB 1070.
But despite such widespread opposition, videos captured by Jason Aragon of PanLeft and Migra Patrol Copwatch show a different picture.
A recent video posted online, titled “SB 1070 is in full effect,” shows a woman detained by Tucson police and then shortly after taken away by Border Patrol.
Lynda Cruz, a volunteer with Migra Patrol CopWatch, was present that day, and said the woman was pulled over for a minor infraction. The woman, a legal resident, had forgotten her wallet at home and didn’t have any identification, Cruz says.
Volunteers like Cruz advise people who are detained to refuse to speak with their captors and to request the presence of their attorney.
When New America Media asked about this incident, Gillooly said the Tucson Police Department was confident that the officer acted appropriately and was following department policy.
“Our investigation of that revealed that when the Border Patrol arrived, that female refused to answer any questions,” Gillooly said. He said the federal agent was forced to take her to the station to check whether she was an undocumented immigrant.
When asked why the police detained this woman and called the Border Patrol, Gillooly said he wouldn’t provide any more information.
Cruz said similar incidents have occurred in South Tucson, an area that is predominantly Hispanic.
Gillooly said the department has not seen an increase in complaints from community members about possible racial profiling or police abuse.
“People don’t complain? How are they going to complain if they are the ones retaliated against?” responded Garcia of the Coalición de Derechos Humanos.
The situation in Tucson hasn’t attracted nearly as much media attention as the controversial immigration raids in Latino neighborhoods in Phoenix by Maricopa County sheriff’s deputies. But, in many ways, the dynamics at play in Tucson are creating heightened tensions.
About 40 percent of the city’s half-million residents are Latinos. Tucson, located less than two hours from the Mexican border, is also home to a Border Patrol station, which facilitates more direct cooperation between police and U.S. immigration authorities. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has 3,300 Border Patrol agents dedicated to the Tucson sector of the border.
In the past five years, the Border Patrol added 1,000 agents as part of a federal effort to escalate border security.
Unlike Phoenix, it is not uncommon to see Border Patrol cars driving through Tucson. Many of those who work at the Border Patrol station live in the community.
“People are divided over this issue,” said Alex González, a volunteer [or “promotoras”] with Coalición de Derechos Humanos. “Even families are divided on this.”
She said the new “Yo Soy Testigo” hotline has been flooded with calls denouncing police detentions and cooperation with Border Patrol.
One of the calls she took last week came from Gerardo Robles, a heartbroken undocumented immigrant, who sobbed over the phone in desperation. His wife, who was also undocumented, was pulled over by a Tucson police officer in a traffic stop. The officer called the Border Patrol, and now his wife is in a detention center.
Robles and his family have been living in Tucson for six years. He said they considered leaving the state because of SB 1070 but had been hoping for the best— in the past, police had stopped him on several occasions but had never called the Border Patrol. The politics behind SB 1070 might have changed things, he said.
“A criminal that traffics with drugs—those people are in the streets,” he said. “They are the ones that are free. My wife was coming back from work to feed our two children.”
http://newamericamedia.org/2010/09/tucson-group-polices-the-police.php
The “Yo Soy Testigo” ("I’m a witness") campaign, launched by Tucson-based Coalición Derechos Humanos, seeks to shine a light on the practice of police cooperation with Border Patrol in the city.
The group, in partnership with PanLeft Productions and Migra Patrol CopWatch, has been using video cameras to document just how often police officers are detaining Latinos—with or without documents—and turning them over to immigration authorities. The group hopes that the videos will increase community awareness of how police are really treating Latinos, despite their supposed opposition to SB1070, and will pressure law enforcement to change its policies.
“We want to expose this reality and for people in the community to take responsibility,” said Isabel Garcia, director of Coalición de Derechos Humanos. She urges people to call the Yo Soy Testigo hotline to report any incidents so they can be videotaped and documented.
Prior to SB 1070, local police departments and other state agencies already had their own policies to detain undocumented immigrants on a discretionary basis. Had a court allowed the new law to take full effect, such detentions would have become mandatory throughout Arizona.
But the mandatory detention provision of SB 1070 provoked a strong outcry from the state's local law officers.
“We are not interested in enforcing federal immigration law,” said Captain Michael Gillooly, the Tucson Police Department's chief of staff. “The problem with SB 1070 is that it mandated we did that.”
In an interview with the Arizona Daily Star in July, Tucson Police Chief Roberto Villasenor said: “Although illegal immigration has undeniable impacts on Arizona, requiring local police already strapped for resources to act as immigration agents is not the answer.”
The Pima County Sheriff's Department and the South Tucson Police Department also opposed SB 1070.
But despite such widespread opposition, videos captured by Jason Aragon of PanLeft and Migra Patrol Copwatch show a different picture.
A recent video posted online, titled “SB 1070 is in full effect,” shows a woman detained by Tucson police and then shortly after taken away by Border Patrol.
Lynda Cruz, a volunteer with Migra Patrol CopWatch, was present that day, and said the woman was pulled over for a minor infraction. The woman, a legal resident, had forgotten her wallet at home and didn’t have any identification, Cruz says.
Volunteers like Cruz advise people who are detained to refuse to speak with their captors and to request the presence of their attorney.
When New America Media asked about this incident, Gillooly said the Tucson Police Department was confident that the officer acted appropriately and was following department policy.
“Our investigation of that revealed that when the Border Patrol arrived, that female refused to answer any questions,” Gillooly said. He said the federal agent was forced to take her to the station to check whether she was an undocumented immigrant.
When asked why the police detained this woman and called the Border Patrol, Gillooly said he wouldn’t provide any more information.
Cruz said similar incidents have occurred in South Tucson, an area that is predominantly Hispanic.
Gillooly said the department has not seen an increase in complaints from community members about possible racial profiling or police abuse.
“People don’t complain? How are they going to complain if they are the ones retaliated against?” responded Garcia of the Coalición de Derechos Humanos.
The situation in Tucson hasn’t attracted nearly as much media attention as the controversial immigration raids in Latino neighborhoods in Phoenix by Maricopa County sheriff’s deputies. But, in many ways, the dynamics at play in Tucson are creating heightened tensions.
About 40 percent of the city’s half-million residents are Latinos. Tucson, located less than two hours from the Mexican border, is also home to a Border Patrol station, which facilitates more direct cooperation between police and U.S. immigration authorities. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has 3,300 Border Patrol agents dedicated to the Tucson sector of the border.
In the past five years, the Border Patrol added 1,000 agents as part of a federal effort to escalate border security.
Unlike Phoenix, it is not uncommon to see Border Patrol cars driving through Tucson. Many of those who work at the Border Patrol station live in the community.
“People are divided over this issue,” said Alex González, a volunteer [or “promotoras”] with Coalición de Derechos Humanos. “Even families are divided on this.”
She said the new “Yo Soy Testigo” hotline has been flooded with calls denouncing police detentions and cooperation with Border Patrol.
One of the calls she took last week came from Gerardo Robles, a heartbroken undocumented immigrant, who sobbed over the phone in desperation. His wife, who was also undocumented, was pulled over by a Tucson police officer in a traffic stop. The officer called the Border Patrol, and now his wife is in a detention center.
Robles and his family have been living in Tucson for six years. He said they considered leaving the state because of SB 1070 but had been hoping for the best— in the past, police had stopped him on several occasions but had never called the Border Patrol. The politics behind SB 1070 might have changed things, he said.
“A criminal that traffics with drugs—those people are in the streets,” he said. “They are the ones that are free. My wife was coming back from work to feed our two children.”
http://newamericamedia.org/2010/09/tucson-group-polices-the-police.php
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