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 News from Around the Americas | May 2007 
Police Recruiters Make Pitch to Hire Noncitizens
 Tom Sharpe - The New Mexican
Santa Fe, NM - The Santa Fe Police Department is looking at the possibility of recruiting Mexican nationals to fill vacancies on the city police force, say sergeants in charge of training and recruiting.
Sgts. Gillian Alessio and Marvin Paulk told the city's Public Safety Committee on Tuesday that they are trying to think outside the box to fill 20 vacancies on the 155-person force.
New Mexico Law Enforcement Academy regulations currently prohibit noncitizens from serving as police officers, Police Chief Eric Johnson said later.
Alessio told the city panel: "Every day, we get approached by young men and women from Mexico who are in the country legally but are not naturalized. There is a huge pool of people who are dedicated, hard-working and trying to become citizens of this country. They would like nothing better than to devote their time to protecting the communities that they live in."
The United States speeds up naturalization for foreigners who enlist in the U.S. military. "Why can't we do that with law enforcement?" Alessio asked.
Some cities in other states already hire noncitizens as police officers.
Alessio said the Santa Fe police force, like others around the country, has found itself vying to recruit the same 21- to 30-year-olds as the U.S. military.
"We've been in a war now for five, almost six years," she said. "So it is hurting us. The national need (for military recruits) is actually taking the toll on us at a local level."
Alessio said military actions overseas also have meant shortages of certain supplies for the police department.
"We can't get certain types of ammunition because they are earmarked and designated for Iraq and Afghanistan," she said. "And we try to order this ammunition, and I'm just learning that we're on a backlog of six months to 12 months for this stuff."
Paulk told the committee that he, Alessio and four other police officers were in Eugene, Ore., last weekend to recruit police who were expecting to be laid off. However, he said, the Eugene governing body announced it would hold off on the layoff, so he's not sure if any of the Eugene officers will be coming to Santa Fe.
Alessio said the recruitment staff hopes to make other recruiting trips to San Diego and Puerto Rico -- two places where police are expected to be laid off because of budgetary crises.
Both the city of Santa Fe and the state of New Mexico have policies against police officers trying to enforce federal immigration laws.
After federal immigration officials recently arrested a man at a Santa Fe elementary school and later deported him, Mayor David Coss and state Department of Public Safety Secretary John Denko issued a statement noting an executive order issued by Gov. Bill Richardson in 2005 and an earlier City Council resolution. "The City of Santa Fe, the Santa Fe Police Department, the State of New Mexico and the State Police do not investigate, inquire about or, for that matter, care about immigration status," the statement said.
Contact Tom Sharpe at tsharpe@sfnewmexican.com |
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