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from Long Island Wins
Suffolk Police ask crime victims if they are immigrants
By Patrick Young, Esq. / CARECEN Program Director / February 3, 2009
Reid Epstein of Newsday reports that, in spite of claims to the contrary by [Suffolk County Executive] Steve Levy, Suffolk police do ask crime victims if they are immigrants. How does he know? The form the cops fill out requires them to check off if the victim is a “foreign national”. The form has asked that question since 1999, when Suffolk’s attention was first turned to the immigration skirmishes in Farmingville.
It is unclear what use the information has been put to, but it is clear that Levy’s post-Lucero [ie: after the murder of Marcelo Lucero] declarations that the question is not even asked were wrong.
We had long heard that immigrants have been afraid to go to the police because they had friends who were crime victims who were asked about immigration status. Previously it had been unclear whether this was simply a few cops acting on their own, or whether it was policy. Now it is clear that such inquiries were mandated and enshrined in an official form.
Next, we need to look at whether Suffolk ever, as Police Commissioner Dormer has claimed, has had a policy of immigration confidentiality. As regular readers know, I asked the Commish for that policy, which he has often talked about post-lynching, but which he has never shared with people who work with the immigrant community.
Filed under: immigration, local, long island, Long Island Politics, News, Political Websites, progressive politics, social & economic justice Tagged: | crime victims, Criminal Justice, immigrant, law enforcement, police, Police Commissioner Dormer, steve levy, Suffolk County
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