Law Enforcement Work Group
Mission:
To help improve the quality and perceived fairness of interactions between local law enforcement (police departments and jail) and the Latino community
Objectives:
1. To facilitate productive, respectful, and candid dialogue between local law enforcement and the Latino community
2. To increase the Latino community’s understanding of the roles of local law enforcement and processes of the criminal justice system (from the perspective of both suspects/accused and victims/complainants)
Resources:
Deportation and Immigrant Family Preparedness Checklist (December 2011)
CJ’s Law Enforcement Work Group has created a Deportation and Immigrant Family Preparedness Checklist to be distributed to area immigrant families and the service providers working with them. Available in both English and Spanish, this two page, easy to follow document details the steps immigrant families should take to prepare for the possibility of the detention or deportation of a family member, as well as guidance on what to do if a family member is detained. Please share and review this document with your friends and clients who are at risk of being separated from their family members due to immigration enforcement.
PDF in English: http://cj-network.org/cj/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/CJ_DeportationChecklist2011_Eng.pdf
PDF in Spanish: http://cj-network.org/cj/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/CJ_DeportationChecklist2011_Span.pdf
US Department of Justice Community Oriented Policing Services (COPs), “Enhancing Community Policing with Immigrant Populations.” Report and recommendations from a roundtable meeting of immigrant advocates and law enforcement leaders held in 2008:
http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/files/RIC/Publications/e041016266-enhancing-cp-immigrant-populations_b.pdf
National Institute of Justice, “Immigrant Populations as Victims: Toward a Multicultural Criminal Justice System.” A summary of surveys of law enforcement leaders regarding immigrants’ tendency to underreport crimes, and some reasons why and how to counteract it:
http://www.nij.gov/pubs-sum/167571.htm
Vera Institute of Justice, “Building Strong Police-Immigrant Community Relations: Lessons from a New York City Project.” A report, including ‘lessons learned,’ about an initiative of NYC police to reach out to specific immigrant communities for dialogue and trust-building:
http://www.vera.org/content/building-strong-police-immigration-community-relations-lessons-new-york-city-project
Police Executive Research Forum, “Police and Immigration: How Chiefs Are Leading their Communities through the Challenges.” A report that includes case studies of how six leading local police agencies around the country have dealt with the tricky issue of immigration enforcement, and concludes with recommendations:
http://www.policeforum.org/library/immigration/PERFImmigrationReportMarch2011.pdf
Institute for Homeland Security Solutions, “Cooperation of Immigrant Communities to Avert Disaster: Refined and Improving Focus in Communication Strategy.” A quick and interesting summary of some research on why immigrants may be less likely to cooperate with police, even though the authors are specifically interested in the homeland security context:
https://www.ihssnc.org/portals/0/Documents/VIMSDocuments/IHSS%20Brief%20Hill_revised.pdf
Meeting Notes: