Detention of 7 Aliens by Police Prompts Probe

A San Diego police officer may have violated Police Department policy Wednesday when he alerted the Border Patrol to the presence of seven illegal aliens in Balboa Park and apparently detained the men until a patrol agent took them into custody.

The seven were held by Police Officer David Ramirez until the Border Patrol arrived and arrested them, according to accounts by several of the illegal aliens.

“He kept us here until la migra came,” said Pedro Ramirez, one of the seven, using a common Spanish slang term for U.S. immigration authorities.

Ramirez spoke as several of his colleagues were being patted down by a Border Patrol agent at the park’s lawn-bowling clubhouse, near the western entrance to Cabrillo Bridge just off 6th Avenue.

The Border Patrol later confirmed that San Diego police had requested its assistance on the case.

Police Investigating

However, a Police Department policy generally forbids officers from detaining suspected illegal aliens for apprehension by the Border Patrol. Police officials said they are investigating Wednesday’s incident.

A rights activist, Roberto Martinez, said the episode is typical of how San Diego police officers continue to ignore policy guidelines directing them not to hold suspected undocumented people for immigration authorities.

“There’s no question in my mind that the rank-and-file officers are doing this all the time,” said Martinez, co-chairman of the Coalition for Law & Justice. Martinez said he has personally witnessed several similar incidents.

Police, meanwhile, denied any widespread abuse: “As far as we know, it (the policy) is being followed,” said Cmdr. Keith Enerson.

Capt. Kenneth Moller of Central Patrol, whose territory includes Balboa Park, added: “If he (the officer) called the Border Patrol strictly because they were undocumented aliens, then he was wrong. The officers are told frequently not to do it.”

Subject to Disciplinary Action

Any officer found to be violating the policy could be subject to disciplinary action, Moller said. He declined to be more specific about what penalties the officers might face.

The issue has been a hotly contested one in San Diego and several other communities with large Latino populations. Rights advocates, fearing harassment of Latinos and others potentially perceived as “foreign-looking,” have argued that local police should not get involved in the enforcement of immigration matters.

“They’re untrained in immigration matters and should keep out of it,” Martinez said.

Such criticism has persuaded San Diego and other Southwestern cities, including Santa Ana, San Jose and San Antonio, to issue directives generally forbidding police from holding suspected illegal aliens for the benefit of immigration authorities.

In San Diego County, however, only the San Diego Police Department appears to have adopted such a formal policy, as the Sheriff’s Department and other police agencies routinely detain aliens for the Border Patrol.

Community Groups Protested

San Diego police directives are clear on the question. In August, 1986, former Chief Bill Kolender announced that the police would end the practice of detaining some people suspected of crimes--some as minor as jaywalking--for up to 20 minutes to allow immigration authorities time to determine whether they were in the country illegally. The move came after protests by community groups.

“Undocumented aliens will not be detained for release to the Border Patrol,” the current guidelines state. “If there is reason to arrest on a criminal charge, which is not related to immigration law violation, officers will do so. Otherwise, the subject will be released.”

In Wednesday’s case, a Border Patrol van was dispatched to the park after San Diego police requested assistance by radio at 7:51 a.m., said Dana Cunningham, a Border Patrol spokesman. The seven, who were led into the van about 8:45 a.m., were all returned to Mexico, as is routine in such instances, Cunningham said.

“When another agency calls us to respond to where they are, we will routinely send someone,” Cunningham said. He said he was unable to say if such requests by San Diego police are unusual because the calls are not broken down by agency.

Area Frequented by Homeless

According to accounts provided by several of the detained men, all seven were resting near the lawn-bowling area when Officer Ramirez detained them. That part of Balboa Park is frequented by homeless people and undocumented workers, many of whom sleep in the park in violation of city laws, police said.

The officer, contacted at the scene by a reporter, first denied that police had alerted the Border Patrol, stating that the Border Patrol van had been “cruising by.” He later declined to elaborate. He was accompanied by Officer Joycelyn McMillen, who also declined to comment.

However, Javier Mendoza, a Border Patrol agent, said, “We got a call from the police,” as he placed the seven men in his van.