Public security

Trust between law enforcement and communities is key to public safety

Nearly four decades ago, the Los Angeles Police Department recognized that effective policing is predicated on the trust of all members of our community and that public safety is hampered when immigrant communities fear contact with law enforcement. As a result, in 1979 the LAPD adopted policies ensuring that officers do not initiate investigations solely to determine a person’s immigration status, along the way making clear that, for the LAPD, “undocumented alien status in itself is not a matter for police action.” In subsequent years, those policies were refined and expanded to prevent officers from inquiring into immigration status in ordinary encounters with community members while investigating crimes.

These policies weren’t the brainchild of starry-eyed liberals. They were the creation, in the first instance, of longtime LAPD Chief Daryl Gates, who was known for supporting aggressive policing tactics. Starting purely from his duty to protect the citizens of Los Angeles, Gates recognized that our communities are in fact safer when our residents, as well as the victims of crime, trust those charged with protecting them. A local justice system simply cannot function when residents are driven into the shadows.