Starting Tuesday, anyone arrested in Prince William County will be asked about his or her immigration status and then checked through a federal database.
That process could take a couple of minutes or last up to several depending on the complexity of the situation, said county police Chief Charlie T. Deane.
But it’s expected to help protect the county against allegations of racial profiling in the absence of installing cameras in all of the county’s police cruisers.
The county’s policy — which originally required officers to check a person’s immigration status if there was probable cause to believe he or she was in the country illegally — was revised in response to a resolution passed by the Prince William Board of County Supervisors in April after deciding not to fund the $3.1 million it would cost to install cameras and monitor the footage.
“There are benefits to cameras aside from the issue of immigration,” Deane said. “But the issue of immigration and the potential for, of course this was a very high profile policy, the potential for allegations against our officers are very high, so that’s what put me over and help me make a decision to recommend cameras.
“Now that that risk has been mitigated, the urgency of getting cameras is not on the forefront for me.”
Much of the original general order remained intact.
Police retain the authority to inquire into someone’s immigration status prior to arrest; crime victims and cooperative witnesses will be protected regardless of their immigration status; and police officers will contact ICE if they believe a person is in violation of immigration laws.
The Prince William-Manassas regional jail already checks the immigration status of all incoming inmates under the Immigration and Custom Enforcement 287(g) program, so police will check the status before arrestees go before the magistrate to have bail set.
“Knowing their immigration status may be a factor that the magistrate will use in deciding whether to detain them or not,” he said.
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