Border Patrol Joins Police in Gaslamp Area : Anti-crime: Downtown also targeted in crackdown on violence. The action generates resentment in the Latino community.

San Diego police officers have teamed up with U.S. Border Patrol agents in a new effort to stop the escalating crime rate in downtown and the Gaslamp Quarter.

The new program, however, drew immediate criticism from some Latino groups concerned about the inclusion of Border Patrol agents in what is essentially a change in longstanding Police Department policy.

The joint crackdown against violent crime began Thursday night, when 16 additional police officers, who will be earning overtime pay, joined 15 Border Patrol agents in an effort to stop what officials said are dramatic increases in rapes, robberies and assaults.

“Right now it’s an effort to get back control of the downtown streets,” Police Chief Bob Burgreen said.

Although the police and Border Patrol will be working in conjunction with each other, Burgreen said that Border Patrol and police teams will be working separately. Burgreen said he asked Border Patrol Chief Gustavo de la Vina to assign the agents after a recent study showed that 29% of persons arrested downtown are undocumented aliens.

The program represents a change in the department’s policy forbidding officers from detaining undocumented aliens for the Border Patrol, which has been in effect since 1986. Under the new anti-crime program for downtown, officers will be allowed to detain undocumented alien suspects and hand them over to Border Patrol agents patrolling the downtown.

Police officials said the official policy is still in effect but acknowledged that it has been changed downtown.

“If we see six Latinos walking down the street and not doing anything wrong, we won’t contact them,” Police Capt. George Saldamando said. “But, if we see six Latinos squatting down shooting up (drugs), we will contact them. And, if we learn that they are undocumented aliens, we’ll turn them over to the Border Patrol.”

Border Patrol Chief De la Vina did not return phone calls to his office. But Saldamando said that Border Patrol agents will concentrate their efforts on arresting illegal immigrants who commit crimes.

“I don’t see the Border Patrol going into stores, looking for undocumented people. I see them driving up and down picking up people who are problems. The people who are walking around with spark plugs (used to break car windows) in their hands, looking to break into a car,” Saldamando said.

“If the Border Patrol is picking up criminals, more power to them,” Saldamando said. “Look, we’re talking about a small percentage of undocumented people who come through here. Unfortunately, there is a criminal element among them. We have to be sensitive in dealing with this problem, but we also have to utilize our resources to take away the criminal element.”

According to Burgreen, the new crackdown will be a two-week experiment that will be evaluated later this month. The additional officers and agents will work from 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. Burgreen said he does not know how much the program will cost the department in overtime pay.

“It will be evaluated after two weeks. Then we’ll talk to the city manager and determine if we can see a difference in the crime picture downtown,” Burgreen said.

The new patrols were prompted by crime statistics for the downtown area for the first six months of this year, officials said. According to police figures, rapes increased 13%, robberies 34% and assaults 75%. The overall crime rate for downtown increased by 49.5% for the same period.

Burgreen said undocumented aliens accounted for 29% of arrests downtown from January to June.

Burgreen also said that De la Vina has proposed teaming up Border Patrol agents and San Diego police to patrol downtown jointly. De la Vina helped institute a similar program in El Paso that generated considerable controversy.

Opponents of the joint patrols in El Paso argued that they were used as a pretext by both police and Border Patrol agents to stop people. For example, opponents said that, if the police did not have probable cause to stop someone, Border Patrol agents would use their authority to stop and question the person. Opponents said it amounted to a policy of harassment.

“When he came to San Diego, he brought it with him and said we should give it a try,” Burgreen said. “However, San Diego is not El Paso. There may be sensitivities here that did not exist in El Paso. We’ve got a subcommittee of the Citizens Advisory Board on Police and Community Relations studying the proposal.”

Board chairwoman Andrea Skorepa was skeptical of the need for the new Border Patrol-San Diego police crackdown. She also expressed concern about the joint patrols suggested by De La Vina.

“Until recently, the Border Patrol had an agent assigned to the downtown police station. When a person was arrested . . . and if there was a question whether he was here legally or not, the Border Patrol agent would be asked to make this determination. . . . But the Border Patrol decided that not enough people were being arrested to justify having one person at the department 24 hours a day,” Skorepa said.

“If there weren’t enough people being arrested to justify one 24-hour position, how have we now gotten to the point where the Border Patrol is willing to field 15 agents into teams on the city streets? That doesn’t make sense,” she said.