US Police Chiefs split on Ashcrioft's screening

NEW YORK Police chiefs across the United States are deeply divided by Attorney General John Ashcroft's request that they help interview thousands of Middle Eastern men, torn between a desire to assist the FBI as it investigates the Sept. 11 attacks and concerns that the plan seems like racial profiling.
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In Portland, Oregon, the acting police chief has directly refused to take part in the effort, saying it conflicted with state laws that bar local police from questioning immigrants when they are not suspected of a crime.
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Several other chiefs interviewed in recent days also expressed qualms about the directive, saying they were concerned about violating civil liberties and worried about undoing the gains they had achieved by building relationships with their local communities.
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"We're standing with the fundamental rights of individuals under the Constitution and the state constitution and our municipal law," said Charles Wilson, chief of the Detroit Police Department. The Justice Department and the FBI listed 83 people in Detroit for questioning, but Mr. Wilson said he did not want his officers to "go out and treat people like criminals or even go out and find these people."
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Mr. Ashcroft announced the plan to find and interview 5,000 men, mostly from Middle Eastern countries, in a Nov. 9 memorandum. Some police chiefs have said they have no problem with the effort. But to a certain extent, the plan has prompted an unusual role reversal, with the police now the guardians of civil liberties, instead of being criticized for violating them.
.
It is also a reversal of the roles between the local police and the federal government since the 1960s. In recent decades, some local police forces have been criticized for aggressive tactics and racial profiling, with the Justice Department getting court consent decrees to stop these practices.
.
Now, in the aftermath of Sept. 11, some police chiefs are complaining that the Justice Department and the FBI are doing the profiling and saying that they are the ones to apply the brakes.
.
In Tucson, Arizona, Captain John Leavitt, the police liaison to the city manager, said that the department had strict guidelines against any form of racial profiling. While the police would cooperate with any Justice Department request, he said, they would not do so in a way that violated the guidelines.
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The interest by local law enforcement agencies in maintaining close relations with community residents has created a natural tension with Mr. Ashcroft's directive, said Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, a group of police leaders in Washington. In Portland, the acting police chief, Andrew Kirkland, said he would not take part in the interviews because questioning immigrants simply because they were immigrants was a violation of Oregon law.
.
"If the FBI has something specific about a crime they are investigating, or a potential crime that these people might commit, then we would reconsider," Mr. Kirkland said. NEW YORK Police chiefs across the United States are deeply divided by Attorney General John Ashcroft's request that they help interview thousands of Middle Eastern men, torn between a desire to assist the FBI as it investigates the Sept. 11 attacks and concerns that the plan seems like racial profiling.
.
In Portland, Oregon, the acting police chief has directly refused to take part in the effort, saying it conflicted with state laws that bar local police from questioning immigrants when they are not suspected of a crime.
.
Several other chiefs interviewed in recent days also expressed qualms about the directive, saying they were concerned about violating civil liberties and worried about undoing the gains they had achieved by building relationships with their local communities.
.
"We're standing with the fundamental rights of individuals under the Constitution and the state constitution and our municipal law," said Charles Wilson, chief of the Detroit Police Department. The Justice Department and the FBI listed 83 people in Detroit for questioning, but Mr. Wilson said he did not want his officers to "go out and treat people like criminals or even go out and find these people."
.
Mr. Ashcroft announced the plan to find and interview 5,000 men, mostly from Middle Eastern countries, in a Nov. 9 memorandum. Some police chiefs have said they have no problem with the effort. But to a certain extent, the plan has prompted an unusual role reversal, with the police now the guardians of civil liberties, instead of being criticized for violating them.
.
It is also a reversal of the roles between the local police and the federal government since the 1960s. In recent decades, some local police forces have been criticized for aggressive tactics and racial profiling, with the Justice Department getting court consent decrees to stop these practices.
.
Now, in the aftermath of Sept. 11, some police chiefs are complaining that the Justice Department and the FBI are doing the profiling and saying that they are the ones to apply the brakes.
.
In Tucson, Arizona, Captain John Leavitt, the police liaison to the city manager, said that the department had strict guidelines against any form of racial profiling. While the police would cooperate with any Justice Department request, he said, they would not do so in a way that violated the guidelines.
.
The interest by local law enforcement agencies in maintaining close relations with community residents has created a natural tension with Mr. Ashcroft's directive, said Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, a group of police leaders in Washington. In Portland, the acting police chief, Andrew Kirkland, said he would not take part in the interviews because questioning immigrants simply because they were immigrants was a violation of Oregon law.
.
"If the FBI has something specific about a crime they are investigating, or a potential crime that these people might commit, then we would reconsider," Mr. Kirkland said. NEW YORK Police chiefs across the United States are deeply divided by Attorney General John Ashcroft's request that they help interview thousands of Middle Eastern men, torn between a desire to assist the FBI as it investigates the Sept. 11 attacks and concerns that the plan seems like racial profiling.
.
In Portland, Oregon, the acting police chief has directly refused to take part in the effort, saying it conflicted with state laws that bar local police from questioning immigrants when they are not suspected of a crime.
.
Several other chiefs interviewed in recent days also expressed qualms about the directive, saying they were concerned about violating civil liberties and worried about undoing the gains they had achieved by building relationships with their local communities.
.
"We're standing with the fundamental rights of individuals under the Constitution and the state constitution and our municipal law," said Charles Wilson, chief of the Detroit Police Department. The Justice Department and the FBI listed 83 people in Detroit for questioning, but Mr. Wilson said he did not want his officers to "go out and treat people like criminals or even go out and find these people."
.
Mr. Ashcroft announced the plan to find and interview 5,000 men, mostly from Middle Eastern countries, in a Nov. 9 memorandum. Some police chiefs have said they have no problem with the effort. But to a certain extent, the plan has prompted an unusual role reversal, with the police now the guardians of civil liberties, instead of being criticized for violating them.
.
It is also a reversal of the roles between the local police and the federal government since the 1960s. In recent decades, some local police forces have been criticized for aggressive tactics and racial profiling, with the Justice Department getting court consent decrees to stop these practices.
.
Now, in the aftermath of Sept. 11, some police chiefs are complaining that the Justice Department and the FBI are doing the profiling and saying that they are the ones to apply the brakes.
.
In Tucson, Arizona, Captain John Leavitt, the police liaison to the city manager, said that the department had strict guidelines against any form of racial profiling. While the police would cooperate with any Justice Department request, he said, they would not do so in a way that violated the guidelines.
.
The interest by local law enforcement agencies in maintaining close relations with community residents has created a natural tension with Mr. Ashcroft's directive, said Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, a group of police leaders in Washington. In Portland, the acting police chief, Andrew Kirkland, said he would not take part in the interviews because questioning immigrants simply because they were immigrants was a violation of Oregon law.
.
"If the FBI has something specific about a crime they are investigating, or a potential crime that these people might commit, then we would reconsider," Mr. Kirkland said. NEW YORK Police chiefs across the United States are deeply divided by Attorney General John Ashcroft's request that they help interview thousands of Middle Eastern men, torn between a desire to assist the FBI as it investigates the Sept. 11 attacks and concerns that the plan seems like racial profiling.
.
In Portland, Oregon, the acting police chief has directly refused to take part in the effort, saying it conflicted with state laws that bar local police from questioning immigrants when they are not suspected of a crime.
.
Several other chiefs interviewed in recent days also expressed qualms about the directive, saying they were concerned about violating civil liberties and worried about undoing the gains they had achieved by building relationships with their local communities.
.
"We're standing with the fundamental rights of individuals under the Constitution and the state constitution and our municipal law," said Charles Wilson, chief of the Detroit Police Department. The Justice Department and the FBI listed 83 people in Detroit for questioning, but Mr. Wilson said he did not want his officers to "go out and treat people like criminals or even go out and find these people."
.
Mr. Ashcroft announced the plan to find and interview 5,000 men, mostly from Middle Eastern countries, in a Nov. 9 memorandum. Some police chiefs have said they have no problem with the effort. But to a certain extent, the plan has prompted an unusual role reversal, with the police now the guardians of civil liberties, instead of being criticized for violating them.
.
It is also a reversal of the roles between the local police and the federal government since the 1960s. In recent decades, some local police forces have been criticized for aggressive tactics and racial profiling, with the Justice Department getting court consent decrees to stop these practices.
.
Now, in the aftermath of Sept. 11, some police chiefs are complaining that the Justice Department and the FBI are doing the profiling and saying that they are the ones to apply the brakes.
.
In Tucson, Arizona, Captain John Leavitt, the police liaison to the city manager, said that the department had strict guidelines against any form of racial profiling. While the police would cooperate with any Justice Department request, he said, they would not do so in a way that violated the guidelines.
.
The interest by local law enforcement agencies in maintaining close relations with community residents has created a natural tension with Mr. Ashcroft's directive, said Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, a group of police leaders in Washington. In Portland, the acting police chief, Andrew Kirkland, said he would not take part in the interviews because questioning immigrants simply because they were immigrants was a violation of Oregon law.
.
"If the FBI has something specific about a crime they are investigating, or a potential crime that these people might commit, then we would reconsider," Mr. Kirkland said. NEW YORK Police chiefs across the United States are deeply divided by Attorney General John Ashcroft's request that they help interview thousands of Middle Eastern men, torn between a desire to assist the FBI as it investigates the Sept. 11 attacks and concerns that the plan seems like racial profiling.
.
In Portland, Oregon, the acting police chief has directly refused to take part in the effort, saying it conflicted with state laws that bar local police from questioning immigrants when they are not suspected of a crime.
.
Several other chiefs interviewed in recent days also expressed qualms about the directive, saying they were concerned about violating civil liberties and worried about undoing the gains they had achieved by building relationships with their local communities.
.
"We're standing with the fundamental rights of individuals under the Constitution and the state constitution and our municipal law," said Charles Wilson, chief of the Detroit Police Department. The Justice Department and the FBI listed 83 people in Detroit for questioning, but Mr. Wilson said he did not want his officers to "go out and treat people like criminals or even go out and find these people."
.
Mr. Ashcroft announced the plan to find and interview 5,000 men, mostly from Middle Eastern countries, in a Nov. 9 memorandum. Some police chiefs have said they have no problem with the effort. But to a certain extent, the plan has prompted an unusual role reversal, with the police now the guardians of civil liberties, instead of being criticized for violating them.
.
It is also a reversal of the roles between the local police and the federal government since the 1960s. In recent decades, some local police forces have been criticized for aggressive tactics and racial profiling, with the Justice Department getting court consent decrees to stop these practices.
.
Now, in the aftermath of Sept. 11, some police chiefs are complaining that the Justice Department and the FBI are doing the profiling and saying that they are the ones to apply the brakes.
.
In Tucson, Arizona, Captain John Leavitt, the police liaison to the city manager, said that the department had strict guidelines against any form of racial profiling. While the police would cooperate with any Justice Department request, he said, they would not do so in a way that violated the guidelines.
.
The interest by local law enforcement agencies in maintaining close relations with community residents has created a natural tension with Mr. Ashcroft's directive, said Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, a group of police leaders in Washington. In Portland, the acting police chief, Andrew Kirkland, said he would not take part in the interviews because questioning immigrants simply because they were immigrants was a violation of Oregon law.
.
"If the FBI has something specific about a crime they are investigating, or a potential crime that these people might commit, then we would reconsider," Mr. Kirkland said.