{"id":3286,"date":"2017-03-08T16:05:42","date_gmt":"2017-03-09T00:05:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spijue.wpengine.com\/news\/jpd-wont-check-peoples-immigration-status-when-theyre-contacted-or-arrested\/"},"modified":"2017-03-08T16:05:42","modified_gmt":"2017-03-09T00:05:42","slug":"jpd-wont-check-peoples-immigration-status-when-theyre-contacted-or-arrested","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/news\/jpd-wont-check-peoples-immigration-status-when-theyre-contacted-or-arrested\/","title":{"rendered":"JPD won\u2019t check people\u2019s immigration status when they\u2019re contacted or arrested"},"content":{"rendered":"

Juneau Police Department Chief Bryce Johnson said the number one priority for the police department is public safety, not an individual\u2019s immigration status.<\/span><\/p>\n

In response to questions from the public, Johnson explained his department\u2019s position in a press release Monday.<\/span><\/p>\n

JPD doesn\u2019t have federal authority to enforce immigration laws, said City & Borough of Juneau spokeswoman Lisa Phu in the press release. The department isn\u2019t part of the federal program \u2013 known as 287(g) \u2013 that partners state or local law enforcement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.<\/span><\/p>\n

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) enforces federal laws governing border control, customs, trade and immigration to promote homeland security and public safety.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a big deal nationally, but for us here, it isn\u2019t something we need to consume ourselves with,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cPeople committing crimes in Juneau are usually not immigrants or people you would need to consult ICE for.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Johnson said JPD doesn\u2019t check people\u2019s immigration status when they\u2019re contacted or arrested.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat is not something we are investigating,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

If, through an investigation of other crimes, JPD determines a suspect is undocumented, that information can be shared with ICE. Those instances are rare, Johnson said, and Juneau\u2019s remoteness often hampers federal involvement.<\/span><\/p>\n

Johnson added, \u201cWe want to assure undocumented individuals who are victims of crime that they can call us to make a police report. We don\u2019t investigate immigration status in crimes like domestic violence.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

If ICE were to ask JPD for assistance, Johnson said he\u2019d weigh the request against JPD\u2019s available resources and priorities.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy philosophy is to be a good law enforcement partner with our neighbors, state, and federal authorities,\u201d he said. \u201cIf ICE were to ask us for help, we would do what we were legally able to do to help them within the context of the resources we have. This is the same answer for any other law enforcement agency looking for help from us.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Johnson said he\u2019d err on the side of public safety, adding, \u201cIf it makes sense for public safety, and we had the resources available, we\u2019d help out.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Juneau Police Department Chief Bryce Johnson said the number one priority for the police department is public safety, not an individual\u2019s immigration status. In response to questions from the public, Johnson explained his department\u2019s position in a press release Monday. JPD doesn\u2019t have federal authority to enforce immigration laws, said City & Borough of Juneau […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_stopmodifiedupdate":false,"_modified_date":"","wds_primary_category":4,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[75],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-3286","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-local-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3286","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/107"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3286"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3286\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3286"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=3286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}