Alex Sanchez
Re “We Need Peacemakers Like Alex Sanchez,” by Tom Hayden, Commentary, Jan. 26: The arrest of Alex Sanchez had nothing to do with his affiliation with the Homies Unidos organization but rather his past violent criminal history. Representatives from the INS instructed the LAPD officers to arrest Sanchez and book him because he is a prior deportee who is in this country illegally, and he has a prior conviction in the U.S. for a violent felony. These two issues make Sanchez deportable.
LAPD policy forbids officers from initiating police action with the objective of discovering the alien status of a person. Officers do not, as a matter of routine, arrest undocumented persons simply because of their alien status. These officers routinely jeopardize their personal safety to protect undocu- mented immigrants. I believe that Los Angeles police officers, especially in the Rampart area, do more on a daily basis for a diverse group of people than any politician, especially one who advocates a “hands-off” policy for a convicted felon.
CAPT. ROBERT B. HANSOHN
Commanding Officer, Rampart
Community Police Station
Los Angeles
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