Police policy aims to ease fear of immigration inquiries

By THANE GRAUEL

The town board on Tuesday night held a public hearing on a proposed policy aimed to ensure that all people — regardless of immigration status — know that contact with the police will not lead to an immigration inquiry. 

Police Chief Thomas Mulcahy said the intent was “to take down the barrier of people not being afraid to approach the police department.”

“Everything in this policy basically follows state law,” he said. “... the primary purpose and mission statement over our police department is basically to protect the lives and properties of the residents of this town, the businesses of this town and people that visit our town, and that’s regardless of what their status is. That’s our job.”

“We don’t get involved in any politics on what one party thinks about this, or what party thinks about that; the key is being fair and following the law,” Mulcahy said.

Exceptions are spelled out in the policy. Mulcahy mentioned working with federal immigration authorities when a human trafficking investigation took place.

“They helped us with some of the victims of that case,” he said. “So, we definitely need that discourse when it’s proper.”

While Americans are split on immigration enforcement issues, largely along partisan lines, all the speakers in Pound Ridge on Tuesday supported the proposed policy and thanked the chief and board for bringing it forward. Many mentioned their own family histories, with parents or grandparents coming to America as immigrants, some without following the rules.

Joe Simmonetti thanked the board and chief for reiterating the policy.

“Because we know that this current federal government is willing to go, you know, very loose with this policy, arrest people for trumped-up charges, pun intended, and deport them,” he said. “It’s important that we state this, that that’s not what we’re about. It’s the worth and dignity of everyone. In my opinion, no one is illegal.”

Adam Dorn reminded people of their own family histories.

“You all were immigrants at one point, or descended from immigrants in this country,” he said. “... not everybody’s great-great-great-grandparents came over on the Mayflower.”

Alex Mouravskly told the crowd he grew up in the Soviet Union, and said making the policy official was critical.

“If we do not codify and enforce and make it clear that these are our policies, these are the things that we believe in and the things that we care about, and the things that are important to us as America or as Americans,” he said, “then we have nothing left. Then we do not have a functional country. We do not have the rule of law. We have the thing that my family fled the Soviet Union to get away from where people are arrested for no reason, people are thrown in jail, political enemies are thrown in jail.”

Judy Ostrow said she rarely attends public meetings, but that the topic was very important.

“My one concern, and I don’t know how it gets addressed, but the fact is that in many communities ICE has arrived in unmarked vehicles, without identification, without badges, without uniforms, and taken people,” she said of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. “Just like a kidnapper, put them in their vehicles, and driven them away. Not to be seen again.”

“I don’t want to see it happen in this community, which I love and lived here for 44 years, so I would like to see that addressed at some level,” she said.

The public hearing was closed and the policy, to be included in the police department’s manual, passed unanimously.

Supervisor Kevin Hansan thanked the speakers.

“I appreciate everyone who got up and spoke,” he told the crowd. “It’s not always easy to stand and speak in front of your neighbors and your friends and talk about something that’s typically an emotional issue.”