Good Cop . . . Bad Cop
Some of us have been working with various authorities to foster the notion of Community (AKA 21st Century) Policing. Then along comes stupid:
On Jan. 25, President Trump signed an executive order calling for the creation of a department within ICE, the Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement, or Voice, office.
How about some salt for that wound?
In a Feb. 20 memo, DHS Secretary John Kelly directed that “any and all resources that are currently used to advocate on behalf of illegal aliens” be reallocated to Voice.
This is a link to a recent article about the consequences of this new program. with this lead paragraph:
Over the past decade, Rudy Bustamante spent a lot of time driving around Phoenix, meeting immigrants anywhere they felt comfortable—schools, churches, coffee shops. As a community relations officer for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he’s had the difficult task of trying to build trust between immigrants and the federal agency in charge of deporting those who are here illegally.
Comments
Part of the idea is sound
Giving voice to victims of crimes committed by illegal aliens is proper. But denying public defender funding to people accused of a crime (illegal residency in this country) of which they might not be guilty is an uncalled for deprivation of access to due process. So, as Sisyphus said, "one step forward, two steps back".
Bottom Up versus Top Down
I am reacting to the top down approach to defining the "problems". I am of the frame of mind that Rudy Bustamante is in a better position to know what will work best to do effective intervention while John Kelly is so very removed as to not really understand how it works "in real life". Put another way, why have good people "on the beat" if you are going to throw stumbling blocks in the way.
I see this often in academic institutions: Administrators issue proclamations from on-high with very little understanding of what it really takes to educate students.
In all cases administrators should be support staff not "bosses". They should be supporting the professionals working in the agencies they administer not kowtowing to TPTB.
The cop on the beat knows more about the people
with whom s/he interacts than the police chief. So, I think this is key:
This is true, I think in most disciplines. The lieutenants know more than the armchair generals--but they also know more than the privates. Effective command is best when performed by persons who have served at base level of the organization, whether it be Academia, Medicine, or relations with immigrants. If one hasn't been a teacher, then one should not be telling teachers what to do. Betsy DeVos--Oh, the Horror!