ACLU takes on Escondido's license checkpoints

[blondboinsd]

I'm 100% Against Drunk Drivers, Illegal Immigrants driving illegally AND those without insurance and/or a license. Am I missing something because from what I see I 100% agree with the Escondido PD. If you conduct yourself in a civil and lawful manner you should have no reason to fear the police. Just my 2 cents

ACLU takes on Escondido's license checkpoints
By Angela Lau (Contact) Union-Tribune Staff Writer
8:22 p.m. April 21, 2009

ESCONDIDO – The American Civil Liberties Union on Tuesday demanded that the city of Escondido change the way it conducts driver's license checkpoints, which critics say are intended to apprehend and deport illegal immigrants and are resulting in suspicion and resentment among many Latinos.

At a news conference in San Diego with El Grupo – a coalition of Latino and advocacy organizations – the ACLU said the city needs to be more transparent.

Escondido has checkpoints about twice a month, for two hours, on a busy road. Drivers who fail to produce licenses or have revoked or suspended licenses are stopped, and usually their vehicles are impounded.

If a warrant check shows that they are illegal immigrants and are wanted by immigration authorities, they are turned over, Police Chief Jim Maher said. Those who can't be identified are taken to the police station for fingerprinting and a background check.

Andrea Guerrero, an ACLU director, said police should record all interactions between officers and drivers at the checkpoints, list the ethnicity of drivers who are stopped to safeguard against profiling, and appoint an oversight committee to monitor the department.

“Driver's license checkpoints are fishing expeditions for illegal immigrants,” Guerrero said later.

Victor Torres, an El Grupo spokesman, said the checkpoints have alienated many of Escondido's Latino residents, about 45 percent of the city's 143,000 population, to the point that they no longer trust police enough to report crimes. It presented two women who talked about their fear of police.

Torres demanded that the city fire the police chief, saying he has encouraged an anti-Latino environment.

Maher responded at a news conference later in the day. He said the checkpoints have helped reduce the number of hit-and-run accidents from more than 600 a year in 2004 to 433 last year. In 2008, 280 citations were issued and 221 vehicles impounded.

Even so, Escondido still has the second highest number of hit-and-runs among 52 California cities of similar size, Maher said.

Last year, Maher said, 17 checkpoints were conducted, but only one person was deported because there was a judge's order to arrest her. Maher said he has worked hard to foster good relations between Latino residents and police.

El Grupo maintains the reduction in hit-and-run accidents is not valid because other cities that do not have checkpoints have seen similar declines since 2004.

Maher said he will not ask officers to record interactions at the checkpoints or list the ethnicity of those stopped because such information would be subject to manipulation.

City Manager Clay Phillips and council members Dick Daniels, Sam Abed and Marie Waldron expressed confidence in Maher. Mayor Lori Holt Pfeiler said the chief is working hard to keep residents safe, and those who have problems with police should work with the council to make changes.

Councilwoman Olga Diaz, whose husband is an Escondido police lieutenant, said the chief's refusal to consider what the ACLU asked for indicates Maher is inflexible. She said she will ask the council to consider changes to the checkpoint policy.