from GALEO

Arrests can be avoided in Cobb: Interview with Cobb County Police ChiefFound in Mundo Hispanico
Written by Pilar Verdes
Posted on 2007-11-13

MundoHispánico
Atlanta
8-14 November, 2007

Arrests can be avoided in Cobb: Interview with Cobb County Police Chief

By Pilar Verdes
Pverdes@mundohispanico.com

Translated by GALEO on 11/13/07.

Given the rising number of arrests involving Hispanics driving without licenses in Cobb County, its authorities suggest a simple means of avoiding those.

In an interview with MundoHispánico, G. B. Hatfield Jr., the Police Chief for the county said that undocumented should always take along a receipt of their rent or mortgage payment.

“There is a perception that were you Latino and were you not to have a driver’s license, you will be arrested and deported. That is not true!”, emphasizes Hatfield Jr.

According to the Police Chief, when a person is driving without a license it is up to the arresting officer to arrest or not, and that is based upon whether the identity can be established and with that the guarantee that the person will be present in court to face the charges of which they are accused.

If a driver has no identification there is a high probability that they will be arrested.

During the last weeks, there has been an increase in the number of detentions for not having a driver’s license, and many of those are in the deportation process. This is due to an agreement with immigration authorities that allows the Sheriff’s Office, who administers the Cobb Detention Center, to begin those proceedings.

During the last two months police have set up 15 road blocks, which according to Dana Pierce, Department spokesperson, target drivers under the influence.

There is no information available of the number of detentions these September and October roadblocks generated because according to Sergeant Pierce, a record of detentions is not required.

Nevertheless, for those roadblocks for which there are records, none of those detained were under the influence. In a 28th of September roadblock most of the detentions were due to driving without a license.

The Department ratifies not knowing how many Hispanics have been detained during those roadblocks, the reason being that the computer system only allows for them to input the information under categories of “white” and “black”. Hispanics are being recorded as “white”, Hatfield commented, as he supported the actions as being a federal requirement in tracking the number of violations committed.

“We are not making Latinos a target”, the Officer reiterated, as he affirmed understanding the reasons that drive some Mexicans to come across the border.

“I saw certain areas in Mexico and do not blame those people for leaving those towns. But, there are laws that need to the observed”, remarked Hatfield Jr.

“When I go to Mexico on vacations I obey the laws”, he added.

He also adds being worried over how to improve the relations between his department and the Hispanic Community, especially now that there has been an increase in robberies against Latinos. Recently they created a special unit to eliminate the street holdups in the community. Hispanics constitute the majority of the victims of street holdups.