Text and Ideas: A blog about ideas and innovations in journalism
Nick R. Martin

Have an idea?
E-mail Nick

Posts by month
June 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007
Full list

Other sites
McGuire on Media
Romenesko
Mixed Media
Idea Lab
NewAssignment
PressThink
Publishing 2.0

RSS Feed
Officials spar over illegals
Arpaio to Gascon: If Mesa police won't enforce immigration laws, my squad will
November 17, 2007

By NICK R. MARTIN
TRIBUNE

Increasingly, two of the Valley's law-enforcement heavyweights have been facing off over the hotly political issue of illegal immigration.

In one corner is Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, whose office created a special squad to arrest people suspected of being in the U.S. illegally.

Publication info
This story originally ran Nov. 17, 2007 in the East Valley Tribune in Arizona.

In the opposite corner is Mesa police Chief George Gascon, who says Arpaio's special squad actually may be putting the safety of Valley residents and officers in jeopardy by spending valuable resources on small crimes rather than large ones.

The issue reached its highest pitch yet this week after the sheriff's squad went into Mesa and arrested nine suspected illegal immigrants without letting the city police department know.

In a written statement on Thursday following the arrests, Arpaio took a jab at Gascon, saying if the chief "will not enforce immigration laws," the sheriff's office will.

Gascon responded in an interview by saying: "He's jeopardizing officer safety. He can't keep his jails open, but yet he can arrest cooks and gardeners." Gascon was referring to recent financial woes in the sheriff's office that caused the county on Wednesday to shut down three buildings often used by local police to book inmates into the county jails. One was in Mesa. Two were in the West Valley.

Closing the facilities means officers on the edges of the Valley now have to drive further -- to downtown Phoenix -- and wait in long lines to book certain suspects, effectively taking police off the streets, Gascon said.

"They're not arresting bad people. They're not responding to community calls. They're standing around waiting to book people," he said.

Arpaio shot back, saying the move will have absolutely no affect on the Mesa Police Department because its officers haven't used the nearest county facility for nearly three months.

"I don't like my organization criticized by some police chief," he added.

Mesa police spokesman Detective Steve Berry confirmed late Friday the department has not used the county facility "for quite some time," though he did not know exactly how long or why.

The debate between the men over how to handle illegal immigration began long before this week, starting in early 2006 while Gascon was still an assistant chief for the Los Angeles Police Department.

At the time, The Washington Post published a story in which Gascon criticized Arpaio's decision to let deputies arrest suspected illegal immigrants, a job previously done only by federal agents.

Gascon argued that local police agencies will have a difficult time finding witnesses to report everyday crimes if those witnesses fear being deported. It's a point he still makes today.

During an interview Friday, Arpaio said that was the opening blow. "He had to badmouth me before he even got here," Arpaio said.

Both say the debate is not personal, but there are indications otherwise.

Gascon points to the sheriff's role as an elected official. "I'm not running for office," Gascon said this week. "I don't need anybody's votes."

And Arpaio says that since Gascon came to town, the two have not spoken except through the media. "We called him. He hasn't even returned the call," Arpaio said.

For now at least, the debate looks like it will not slow.

Both law enforcement agencies have jurisdiction inside Mesa city limits, and both men claim to have statistics to back up their own policies.

Arpaio's advice to Gascon late Friday was this: "Just do his job. He's the chief of police for Mesa. I'll do my job. I'm the county sheriff."

Nether man, though, said they knew exactly how to make that relationship work.

Powered by Movable Type and my own skills | E-mail login | Copyright 2008