GARDEN CITY, N.Y. (AP) -- A Long Island police department policy mandating the arrest of all unlicensed drivers without other identification unfairly targets Hispanic residents, a longtime advocate for undocumented aliens charged Tuesday.
``This is an obvious case of profiling; there's no question in my mind,'' said the Rev. Allen Ramirez, pastor of the Brookville Reformed Church.
The Suffolk County Police Department, which covers most of eastern Long Island, began the policy in early April, but suspended it on May 2 after concerns arose over possible discrimination. Newsday reported that more than two-thirds of the drivers arrested under the policy from April 11 to May 2 were identified on police reports as Hispanic.
Police Commissioner Richard Dormer announced on Monday that following an internal review, the policy to arrest unlicensed drivers was back. He denied racial profiling was involved.
``This is a public safety initiative, pure and simple,'' Dormer said in a statement. He said anyone arrested under the policy would be released if they or a relative produces a ``reasonable form of identification.''
Suffolk County has been a longtime epicenter in the national debate over illegal immigration, drawing day laborers from Mexico and Central America over the past decade. County Executive Steve Levy estimated that of the 1.5 million people living in the county,
40,000 are illegal immigrants.
District Attorney Thomas Spota, who previously expressed reservations about the policy, endorsed resuming the arrests.
``I have no reservations about the value of arresting motorists who are driving without a license and possess no other form of valid ID,'' Spota said, noting he had ``received assurances that this policy is being implemented uniformly.''
A Newsday review of police reports and court records, published Tuesday, found that nearly 66 percent of the arrests before the policy review occurred in communities like Farmingville and Brentwood, which have large Hispanic populations. It also found that at least 36 of the 50 motorists arrested between April 11 and May 2 were Hispanic.
Ramirez groused that the new policy was a reaction to a failed proposal in the county legislature earlier this year that would have banned people from standing on county roads seeking work.
``You and I both know it was because that last initiative was turned down,'' he said. ``We must demand they show us how many non-Latinos are being stopped.''
Dormer insisted the policy would be enforced equitably.
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