Friday, October 6, 2006
ICE Guts O.C. Plan
The Orange County Register reports this morning that U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has disemboweled
Sheriff Mike Carona's plan to train 200 deputies to be
immigrations screeners. According to The Register, the present
version of the plan will approve training of only 15 deputies to
be trained do the screening in the county jail.
According to a Sheriff's department spokesman, Carona is "OK with it because it's consistent with what lots of other agencies are doing".
This, of course, blows our young jailer/mayor's plan right out of the water. Young Mayor Mansoor had planned to model his scheme for Costa Mesa after Carona's, including cross-designating jailers, detectives and gang detail officers for this work. As I've said many times in the past, that plan was ill-advised, at best. It would have taken highly specialized and skilled officers off the streets and made them de-facto baby-sitters as the bad guys they apprehended were escorted through the screening process.
For Costa Mesa, this turn of events is a good thing. If, in fact, the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is approved and signed by the Board of Supervisors and the Sheriff implements it, that will take the pressure off Costa Mesa. The suspected illegal alien criminals that are apprehended will be processed at the proper venue - the county jail - and our officers can stay busy doing the things they are trained for - scooping up those bad guys so they cannot prey on the Costa Mesa residents. For Costa Mesa personnel to perform this function would be, at least, redundant.
And yet, the mayor persists. He is quoted in the Register article as saying, "The city will keep working with federal officials because even a smaller program will help make the community safer." He just doesn't get it. If he plans to continue his attempts to have Costa Mesa officers screen apprehended criminals for their immigration status he is either irrationally stubborn or just plain stupid - maybe both. Short of having ICE officials stand in front of him and scream in his face, I'm not sure what it will take for him to understand that the screening process isn't a local, municipal responsibility.
The worst part of this whole scenario is that, since last December when he announced his bogus plan, this city has been in turmoil. Although the mayor denies it, this has become a city divided. His plan has paralyzed the Latino community and caused nearly two decades of good will and close working relationships with the Costa Mesa Police Department to virtually disappear. That change is on the mayor's shoulders - his responsibility - and has likely resulted in an increase in crime in this city. It's beyond me to understand how a man who has been a law enforcement officer for more than 13 years can be so completely out of touch with police issues in Costa Mesa.
One can only assume, since he's being courted by all the Orange County Republican Party mucky-mucks, that they must think he's prime material for higher office. As an Orange County Republican, that makes me want to puke! Mansoor is apparently willing to permit the safety of Costa Mesa residents to be placed in jeopardy for his own personal political future. What a truly sad commentary on the leadership of this city right now.
November 7th provides an opportunity for the voters of Costa Mesa to stop this insanity in it's tracks. This is a chance for the voters to say to the mayor and his anointed running mate, Wendy Leece, "Enough!" This is the opportunity for the good, decent voters of this city to elect candidates that will return mature, reasonable, intelligent, considerate governance to this city and toss aside the mayor and his self-serving, intolerant cadre of boot-lickers. Yes, it's time for that change.
3:38 pm pdt
According to a Sheriff's department spokesman, Carona is "OK with it because it's consistent with what lots of other agencies are doing".
This, of course, blows our young jailer/mayor's plan right out of the water. Young Mayor Mansoor had planned to model his scheme for Costa Mesa after Carona's, including cross-designating jailers, detectives and gang detail officers for this work. As I've said many times in the past, that plan was ill-advised, at best. It would have taken highly specialized and skilled officers off the streets and made them de-facto baby-sitters as the bad guys they apprehended were escorted through the screening process.
For Costa Mesa, this turn of events is a good thing. If, in fact, the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is approved and signed by the Board of Supervisors and the Sheriff implements it, that will take the pressure off Costa Mesa. The suspected illegal alien criminals that are apprehended will be processed at the proper venue - the county jail - and our officers can stay busy doing the things they are trained for - scooping up those bad guys so they cannot prey on the Costa Mesa residents. For Costa Mesa personnel to perform this function would be, at least, redundant.
And yet, the mayor persists. He is quoted in the Register article as saying, "The city will keep working with federal officials because even a smaller program will help make the community safer." He just doesn't get it. If he plans to continue his attempts to have Costa Mesa officers screen apprehended criminals for their immigration status he is either irrationally stubborn or just plain stupid - maybe both. Short of having ICE officials stand in front of him and scream in his face, I'm not sure what it will take for him to understand that the screening process isn't a local, municipal responsibility.
The worst part of this whole scenario is that, since last December when he announced his bogus plan, this city has been in turmoil. Although the mayor denies it, this has become a city divided. His plan has paralyzed the Latino community and caused nearly two decades of good will and close working relationships with the Costa Mesa Police Department to virtually disappear. That change is on the mayor's shoulders - his responsibility - and has likely resulted in an increase in crime in this city. It's beyond me to understand how a man who has been a law enforcement officer for more than 13 years can be so completely out of touch with police issues in Costa Mesa.
One can only assume, since he's being courted by all the Orange County Republican Party mucky-mucks, that they must think he's prime material for higher office. As an Orange County Republican, that makes me want to puke! Mansoor is apparently willing to permit the safety of Costa Mesa residents to be placed in jeopardy for his own personal political future. What a truly sad commentary on the leadership of this city right now.
November 7th provides an opportunity for the voters of Costa Mesa to stop this insanity in it's tracks. This is a chance for the voters to say to the mayor and his anointed running mate, Wendy Leece, "Enough!" This is the opportunity for the good, decent voters of this city to elect candidates that will return mature, reasonable, intelligent, considerate governance to this city and toss aside the mayor and his self-serving, intolerant cadre of boot-lickers. Yes, it's time for that change.
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