Well…yes!
The answer basically lies in this City Ordinance which is primarily an Ordinance telling SPD Cops how they can and can’t do their jobs, which is fine, but in some cases agendas overreach Good Ole Police work, and this very well may be the case here.
The big question now of course is whether this restrictive Ordinance will be looked upon unfavorably by President Trump’s, retired U.S. Marine Corps Gen. John Kelly (Semper Fi, Oorah) and if Spokane is in risk of losing Federal Funding. I guess that all depends on one’s perspective. As for me I’m not so sure, but Councilmember Beggs, Council President Stuckart, and Mayor Condon seem to think it will NOT be a problem, Mike Fagan on the other hand feels it will. I tend to side with Councilmember Fagan on this one.
http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2017/jan/25/city-leaders-believe-trumps-sanctuary-city-order-w/
Of course, the “Sanctuary City” and “Terry v Ohio” issue have been brought up several times before!
“Since the Spokane City Council decided to make Spokane a “Sanctuary City”, because they had absolutely no understanding whatsoever of Terry vs Ohio, and President Elect Donald Trump has on several occasions stated that he will withhold all Federal Grant Funding from ALL “Sanctuary Cities” wouldn’t OUR million-dollar windfall come in handy to cover the $1.207 in “1620 & 1530-Grants” SPD is relying on in the 2017 budget?”
https://examplepro.me/2016/12/14/it-isnt-their-money/
https://examplepro.me/2017/01/17/terry-vs-ohio-the-broken-windows-theory/
https://examplepro.me/2016/08/17/my-take-on-the-opo-candidates/
https://examplepro.me/2016/07/10/terry-vs-ohioive-got-the-power/
Council President Stuckart’s statement in the above SR Article is true. The SPD policy has been in place since Anne Kirkpatrick decided buy the Lexipol LLC canned Policy and Procedures…way back when. What Council President Stuckart leaves out is the extent to which the Ordinance goes well beyond the actual SPD Policy and Procedure.
“I’m not unnerved by following our police policy for the last 10 years,” said City Council President Ben Stuckart. Prior to passage of the 2014 ordinance, Spokane Police had not been asking about immigration status as a department policy for a decade. “All our police chiefs have been clear. I think the city of Spokane would rather have our police out working on property crime, than asking somebody what they’re immigration status is.”
He is dead right about the property crime issue, but that is an entirely different story!
I took the time to separate the relevant SPD Policies for you here:
As is always the case folks can decide for themselves whether the Lexipol Policy covered everything enough that there really wasn’t a need for a new Ordinance, and it is just a matter of proper supervision and…Yes OVERSIGHT?
I just want to point out a couple of things which I hope kind of clear things up.
Keep in mind that his Lexipol Policy was written back during a time when the Country was going through the same discussion we are today.
Perhaps the first thing to do is define who we are talking about.
Next step is to figure out if we are talking about a crime or a civil issue.
Can SPD Officers develop “reasonable suspicion” that Sid Wade is undocumented simply because he is wearing a Sombrero and doing a Mexican Hat Dance on the sidewalk at Howard and Riverside? 🙂
Having pointed all this out the questions remain:
A. Unless required by law or court order, no Spokane City officer or employee shall inquire into the immigration status of any person, or engage in activities designed to ascertain the immigration status of any person.
How will a Former Marine view the language in “A.”?
B. Spokane Police Department officers shall have reasonable suspicion to believe a person has been previously deported from the United States, is again present in the United States, and is committed or has committed a felony criminal-law violation before inquiring into the immigration status of an individual.
Will a Former Marine be able to figure out that even though you can’t ask in the first place, according to the Ordinance, but checking the ICE Data Base just might give you “reasonable suspicion” that Sid Wade has been deported in the past and is back for another run at it and it really doesn’t matter since the cop needs reasonable suspicion that Sid “is committed”, whatever that means (Yes Sid “is committed” I’m not sure to what though?), or has committed a “felony”, which eliminates some other dastardly stuff like Domestic Violence etc, and draw a conclusion that some folks here in Spokane are at best a bit confused?
C. The Spokane Police Department shall not investigate, arrest, or detain an individual based solely on immigration status.
Then why bother with “B.”
D. The Spokane Police Department shall maintain policies consistent with this section.
Will a Former Marine check to see if the Spokane Police Department maintains policies consistent with the Ordinance? One did, a long time ago.
Buffalo Brian Breen 