The Arizona Republic
ARIZONA — Yet another police officer shot during a routine traffic stop. Officer Bret Glidewell is the third Valley cop shot this year in a routine situation. The second one shot, police say, by an illegal immigrant.
Glidewell survived, by the grace of God and Kevlar. But it must be said: it took a bullet to the chest before Phoenix police were allowed to call Immigration and Customs Enforcement to check on whether this guy was entitled to be here.
That needs to change.
Glidewell was on patrol Sunday, six days after the Valley’s police chiefs announced they have no intention of allowing their officers to notify ICE about people they suspect are here illegally unless they’re arrested for serious crimes. It was 5 p.m. when Glidewell pulled over a pickup for running a stop sign. So naturally, the driver shot him, aiming at the 22-year-old officer’s heart.
A few hours later, police arrested Jose Abel Cabrera-Somosa, 35.
Cabrera-Somosa was here illegally despite being kicked out of the country in 2001. I can’t tell you how he caught the eye of federal immigration agents back then or why he was allowed to voluntarily cross into Mexico rather than being deported to his home country of El Salvador. The feds won’t talk about it, citing a new Department of Homeland Security policy that protects the privacy of illegal immigrants. (I am not making this up.)
What I can tell you is that Cabrera-Somosa was back in Phoenix by 2003, when he got a criminal citation for having no driver’s license or identification along with four civil citations in August 2003, and another three in October 2003, for having no license, registration or insurance. He was ticketed a third time for having no license in January 2006, this time in Surprise. Each time, he was cited and released.
As the driver likely would have been on Sunday had he refrained from shooting a cop. This, despite the fact that it’s a felony for an illegal immigrant to have a gun.
“Had he provided valid identification, we would have done a background check on him and if he had no warrants or no outstanding issues, we would have issued whatever appropriate traffic citations and he would have been released,” Phoenix Sgt. Joel Tranter told me.
Released to perhaps shoot someone else, someone not lucky enough to be wearing a bulletproof vest. Which makes the police chief’s policy handcuffing his own cops all the scarier.
Phoenix Chief Jack Harris proclaims that he’s “committed to arresting bad guys off the street.” The problem is, some of the bad guys have to shoot a cop before they catch his interest.
It may be true, as Harris says, that illegal immigrants commit no more crimes than anyone else, but even one is too many if you’re not supposed to be here. It is absolutely true that the federal government is to blame.
But if Harris is waiting for Washington to fix it, well, he’d better settle in because it’s going to be a long wait.
Not only do our leaders show no signs of leading, they plan to pull what’s left of the National Guard stationed at the border next year.
No one wants the police to become the Gestapo (OK, some do). No one wants the cops to illegally target Hispanics. Plenty of us want the border secured and those already here - the vast majority of illegal immigrants who don’t cause trouble - to be given a chance to stay.
But in the utter absence of action, we are left with a mess. What is so wrong with giving police the discretion (not the responsibility) to call ICE about someone they legitimately pull over, someone who has no driver’s license or insurance? What is wrong with at least trying to get them off the streets they shouldn’t be driving?
When did the rule of law become anarchy?
Copyright 2007 The Arizona Republic