PHOENIX - A special board approved plans Wednesday to train police officers on how they can and cannot enforce new laws aimed at catching illegal immigrants.
But the Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board left a key issue that triggered much of the controversy - what constitutes "reasonable suspicion" for police to question someone about their residency status - unresolved for now.
The board ratified plans to create a video of perhaps 60 to 90 minutes explaining the key elements of SB 1070, which requires police, as part of any stop, detention or arrest, to check someone's immigration status if there is "reasonable suspicion" the person is not in this country legally.
Executive Director Lyle Mann stressed officers watching the video will be told they cannot engage in "racial profiling" or even consider someone's race, ethnicity or national origin.
"Race is not an (indicator) of criminality," he said, saying the fact there are so many Latinos in Arizona is a reason why that cannot be a factor. The criteria, he said, are still being determined.
What are likely to be factors, though, are whether the person is particularly nervous, whether answers are evasive and even how someone is dressed, according to Hipolito Acosta. He is a former federal immigration officer who now is a consultant retained by AzPOST to help spell out for officers when they can feel free, after someone is stopped for some other reason, to question further.
Training police on new law approved
But the Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board left a key issue that triggered much of the controversy - what constitutes "reasonable suspicion" for police to question someone about their residency status - unresolved for now.
The board ratified plans to create a video of perhaps 60 to 90 minutes explaining the key elements of SB 1070, which requires police, as part of any stop, detention or arrest, to check someone's immigration status if there is "reasonable suspicion" the person is not in this country legally.
Executive Director Lyle Mann stressed officers watching the video will be told they cannot engage in "racial profiling" or even consider someone's race, ethnicity or national origin.
"Race is not an (indicator) of criminality," he said, saying the fact there are so many Latinos in Arizona is a reason why that cannot be a factor. The criteria, he said, are still being determined.
What are likely to be factors, though, are whether the person is particularly nervous, whether answers are evasive and even how someone is dressed, according to Hipolito Acosta. He is a former federal immigration officer who now is a consultant retained by AzPOST to help spell out for officers when they can feel free, after someone is stopped for some other reason, to question further.
Training police on new law approved
