Santa Ana Officers, INS to Cooperate in Fight Against Crime

In a new cooperative effort with immigration officials, Santa Ana police will launch a high-profile crime task force dubbed “Swat Hypes” to curb rampant burglaries, robberies and narcotics offenses.

The Santa Ana City Council unanimously approved the six-month program Tuesday night. It is scheduled to begin Oct. 1.

The crackdown will involve a rare joint effort by Santa Ana police and the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service to arrest and then deport what authorities say is a substantial number of illegal aliens involved in major local crimes.

Community Support

“Swat Hypes” apparently has met with support from Latino community leaders, though there is some concern about INS involvement. The Latino community can be expected to watch the operation closely out of concern that it could lead to INS apprehension of illegal aliens not suspected of criminal activity.

Although the “Swat Hypes” program will rely primarily on local police investigations and arrests, the involvement of immigration authorities is definitely a departure for Santa Ana, where Police Chief Raymond Davis has long been critical of the INS and has opposed INS sweeps for undocumented aliens in the city.

In a written report to the council, Davis insisted that the new program would not signal “a change in our existing undocumented persons policy.” The Police Department, he said, does not have “any legal right to take into custody a person who is merely here illegally.”

But in his plan, Davis proposed “taking INS agents with us if there is a high probability” that criminal suspects are illegal aliens.

“We are usually faced with the problem of arresting only one or two persons out of the home (where narcotics dealers are based), and the operation is continued by the other (illegal aliens) remaining there,” Davis said. “This interface with INS may put a stop to that.”

Assurances Related

In a brief interview Tuesday evening, Davis said his department will have “no control over INS,” but he added: “We have the assurance that INS is there to help us pick up criminals. We would only involve INS in cases where we are entering a house with a search warrant.”

“Swat Hypes”--the words are acronyms for “Special Weapons and Tactics” and “High Yield Police Enforcement Services”--is modeled after a large-scale crackdown in Los Angeles, according to Ernest Gustafson, INS district director.

In a recent three-month period, 63% of 1,700 narcotics suspects arrested in the Los Angeles crackdown were identified as illegal aliens to be turned over later to immigration officials for deportation.

Gustafson said the Santa Ana program differs from the Los Angeles program in that immigration officers plan to accompany police serving arrest warrants at locations known to be frequented by illegal alien criminal suspects. In Los Angeles, he said, the INS has become involved only after the suspects are jailed.

Santa Ana officials estimate that 60% of burglaries in their city are committed by illegal aliens. They also estimate that 90% of burglaries are drug-related, that is, committed under the influence of drugs or to finance the purchase of drugs, or both.

“Swat Hypes” will cost $500,000 to $600,000 and involve the transfer of 28 veteran officers from other duties. It will require 10 additional unmarked police cars and a converted library bus, which will be used as a mobile headquarters. Much of the anti-crime effort will be high-profile attempts to enlist the cooperation of residents and drum up support for Neighborhood Watch programs.

‘Highest Visibility’

Police expect to “kick off the program with the highest visibility” by serving arrest and search warrants, Davis said.

The crackdown was generally supported by 35 to 40 Latino community leaders invited to City Hall last Friday to discuss the proposal with Davis, according to people who attended the meeting.

Lt. David Salazar, who is involved in the program, said the meeting was held “for clarification” and added: “We didn’t want any misunderstanding of how INS was working with us.”

Sam Romero, a Latino community leader who attended the meeting, said that “most everybody wants to do something about that drug problem” but that he has concerns about the immigration agency’s role.

Romero said he was assured that police, and not immigration agents, will be in charge of “Swat Hypes.”

“I trust in what the (police) chief says,” Romero said. “What I don’t trust is the INS.”

Questions Raised

Romero noted that arrests often attract many onlookers who are illegal aliens, and he questioned whether INS agents will try to apprehend the onlookers.

The crackdown “is basically a good idea,” he said, “but how are you going to be able to control the INS officer? Is that (police) officer going to have the power to stop the INS officer from chasing people? What happens if he does? Is a Santa Ana officer going to interfere with an INS officer?”

INS director Gustafson said there will be only a “very minute” chance of sweeping up illegal aliens not involved in drug or other criminal activity.

“We’re certainly not down there to do street sweeps or residential sweeps,” he said. “We’re there to assist in (apprehending) the criminal.

“Santa Ana has found a tremendous increase in crimes being perpetrated by the undocumented (aliens) in their area. I don’t think anybody in that community wants to keep those people in the neighborhood.”

‘Getting Out of Hand’

Gustafson said the number of illegal aliens committing crimes in Santa Ana is “getting out of hand.” In many cases, he said, the illegal aliens are suspected of repeat offenses.

“We’ll make sure they won’t immediately go back on the street because we will go into the deportation process,” he said.

Most illegal aliens apprehended by INS are afforded the option of “voluntary departure.” But convicted criminals turned over to INS will be formally deported, Gustafson said.

Once deported, an illegal alien can be sentenced to two years in federal prison if subsequently apprehended within the country, he said.

Burglaries in Santa Ana declined in the first half of this year, compared to the same period in 1984, according to the California Bureau of Criminal Statistics. But there was much room for improvement because the burglary rate had soared in Santa Ana during 1984.

Comparisons Made

Throughout the state, communities with populations exceeding 100,000 reported that burglaries declined by 4.9% in 1984 compared to the previous year.

But during the same period in Santa Ana, burglaries rose 21.1%--the largest increase reported by any of the 43 police agencies serving communities over 100,000, according to the Bureau of Criminal Statistics.

The Santa Ana crackdown is intended to limit 1985’s crime rate to no more than a 5% increase over 1984’s rate, while increasing arrests and the seizure of narcotics, according to City Manager Robert C. Bobb.