Yvonne Gonzalez
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department spokesman Jay Rivera says it’s important for victims of crimes, regardless of their immigration status, to feel unafraid to call local authorities.
Tuesday, July 25, 2017 | 2 a.m.
Police are educating the community and working to calm fears stirred by a federal focus on immigration enforcement.
The government has been pushing back against “sanctuary” communities that do not cooperate with federal immigration authorities, a contrast to Las Vegas, where suspects can be detained for two days under the Immigration and Customs Enforcement 287(g) program.
Metro Police spokesman Jay Rivera, who used to work in the department’s Office of Community Engagement, says residents are increasingly concerned about changing immigration policies and what the 287(g) program means locally.
He said it’s important for crime victims to feel unafraid to call local authorities. Those whose immigration status is in question, he says, should get an authorization card to drive, pay any tickets or fines and never risk a DUI.
The Las Vegas Sun recently interviewed Rivera about Metro’s outreach on the immigration issue. Excerpts from the interview follow:
Has there been a rise in concern or fear in the community since new federal immigration policies have been implemented?
With President Trump coming on and all the fearfulness, there was a lot of misinformation — "Things are going to change, roundups are going to start." We felt that we needed to get ahead of that and (communicate) what’s going to happen and, just as important, what’s not going to happen.
The main message is that we’re going to keep doing things the way we’ve been doing them. Patrol officers will not conduct immigration investigations. They will respond to calls just like they’ve always done.
We’re going to continue to participate in 287(g) because as an agency we felt that’s a very effective tool to better identify criminals. That enables us to continue to be crime fighters and not just to simply target any one section of the community. We are looking for criminals regardless of race.
How does the department engage with the community when it comes to immigration?
One program is the Hispanic Citizens Academy, run by Officer David Cienega. It’s in Spanish, one day out of the week for 15 weeks. We talk about gangs, narcotics — important information people need to have to be able to function in society better. The first week, they see nothing but the uniform, and there’s that trepidation. But over time, as we’re talking and we joke, they start to see the human and not just the uniform. ... That’s where the real value is.
The other one is the Office of Community Engagement, where we go out to the community. I’ve done several classes on domestic violence as well as the 287(g) program.
We also have the partnership with the Mexican consulate. We talk about when you get stopped for a car stop or a traffic infraction; we’re not there to do an immigration check. A typical audience is about 100 people, there for consulate business. While they’re waiting, it gives us a great opportunity to provide information.
We want people to participate in crime fighting. Police plus community equals a safer community. ... If people are too afraid, they’re going to see crime and suspicious activity, but they’re not going to call. They’re going to become victims of crime, and they’re not going to call.
Describe the value of the talks.
After two hours, they see you speak the language, and you have a Hispanic surname like they do, and they begin to see beyond the uniform and they start to see the person. They feel they have skin in the game, that it’s not a uniform there to oppress them, but it’s members of their own community who are here as part of the police department to the community.
What is the Hispanic American Resource Team?
Officer Cienega was one of the officers instrumental in the start of the Hispanic American Resource Team more than 10 years ago. The genesis was a robbery series targeting undocumented workers who were cashing their checks on Fridays. Criminals saw these individuals as easy prey: They don’t speak the language, they’re very unlikely to go to the police because they’re fearful of the police already and they’ve got cash. You couldn’t find a better victim. So that’s what happened until some of them started to have the courage to come forward.
When we started investigating it, many other victims were fearful. Crime that happens like that — it’s never contained to any one group of people. They eventually will become more comfortable, more confident, and they will continue to spread out. So it’s really important to us that we identify crime trends early on.
With the new hard-line federal stance on immigration, what do residents need to know about their rights?
People have rights to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures. I talk about "people," not citizens. If you are a person in the U.S., the Constitution protects you so you have the right to not be stopped by the police unless the police have reasonable suspicion or probable cause.
When you commit a traffic infraction, a police officer stops you. He’s got probable cause to believe that you broke a state law, and now he can investigate you. He cannot stop you because you have brown skin; he cannot stop you because you don’t speak English.
(Immigration is) federal law and would require a federal agent to enforce. Metro officers do not have the authority to enforce federal law. We have the authority to enforce state, county and city law only.
Should families be taking any precautions, such as determining where children would go if parents are detained by immigration authorities?
We’ve done talks to groups with the American Civil Liberties Union, and that’s something that I’ve heard them recommend. We would suggest the same. If you are undocumented, you (should) have some kind of a plan in the event that you are deported and what’s going to happen with your American-born kids. It’s better to have a plan before it happens so that once you do get arrested, you simply put into effect a plan you already created.
We highly recommend that they get the authorization to drive a car. There’s a lot of fear — "If I get one, they’re going to keep this database where they’re now going to know." I explain the consequences if you don’t have a license and the consequences if you do have a permit to drive. The worse you’ll probably get is a ticket. If you don’t have that (permit), you might get arrested and you now trigger the very thing you’re fearing — going through the Clark County Detention Center and 287(g).
If you get a (traffic) citation, go to court and pay that fine. If you do not pay the fine, you are triggering again the very thing that you fear. A warrant will probably come out for you, you’ll get arrested, go to the Clark County Detention Center, and will go through 287(g).
With DUIs, don’t even risk it. Do not risk being deported by endangering other citizens. It’s a state, county and city court, not a federal court. So there won’t be any U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) representatives there.
With regard to domestic violence, especially when you have an undocumented spouse with a citizen spouse, there’s the threat of "I’m going to have you deported," and they’re reluctant to call the police. Call the police if you’re the victim of domestic violence. Law enforcement (agencies) are well aware that domestic violence often leads to homicide if there’s not some kind of intervention. So if you’re the victim of any kind of a crime, call the police, report it to us.
What are some of the biggest concerns among community members?
People thought that we were doing roundups here. I’ve been an officer for almost 25 years, and I’ve never participated in a roundup and I don’t know of a time that Metro participated in a roundup. We have a Facebook account in Spanish, and people would ask, "We saw white vans rounding people up at the intersection." And I would have to 100 percent verify with dispatch and dispel myths like that.
When I have a group of people that are fearful, I would say, "Look, people were putting this out on social media. Just because you read it on social media doesn’t mean that it’s happening here."
Presentations at the Consulate of Mexico, 823 S 6th St., are conducted at 9 a.m. Tuesdays.
