Illegal Alien Drivers: Impound Their Cars, or Else . . .
Or else this could happen.
A question we police officers often ask ourselves when considering whether to take this or that course of action is this: If I do or do not do something, is there a reasonable likelihood someone could be hurt or even killed as a result? A Santa Rosa, Calif. police officer now knows to ask this question when confronted with an unlicenced driver, especially one with prior offenses.
Marcos Lopez Garcia, an illegal alien, had been stopped in June 2010 for driving without a license and had his car impounded. He was stopped for speeding on August 13, 2011, and the officer cited him but declined to impound the car, instead releasing it to a licenced driver as allowed by department policy. Five days later, police allege, Lopez Garcia ran over and killed a four-year-old boy who was crossing a street in a crosswalk.
There is a price to be paid for kowtowing to the illegal alien lobby, in this case a very heavy one.
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Comments:
Apr '11
Re: Illegal Alien Drivers: Impound Their Cars, or Else . . .
This is the most infuriating thing about this issue of illegal aliens. If I was a visitor in someone else's country I would be polite to the point of being Pollyanna-ish; if I illegally snuck into that country to alleviate my poverty I would be afraid to look at someone the wrong way, and yet so many illegals have organizations treating them as victims creating an attitude in too many that they can do no wrong.
May '10
Re: Illegal Alien Drivers: Impound Their Cars, or Else . . .
Are California police officers -- in general, and in LA county in particular -- allowed to check the immigration status of the people they question or detain? If so, then I'd think deportation would be a much more effective tool than impoundment.
Re: Illegal Alien Drivers: Impound Their Cars, or Else . . .
LAPD policy is that we refer arrestees to ICE only in felony cases.
Oct '10
Re: Illegal Alien Drivers: Impound Their Cars, or Else . . .
To say this is a dysfuntional process is a moot point in the strange P.C. oddities that motivate things in the US today.
Anyone care to take a drive with me from Mexico City to points North ? Interesting at best.
In short laws are laws, one comes to hold the thought of violating same when having long stays in another country have consequences.
When only Third World countries have laws and punishments to be respected what does that speak to ?
Edited on September 28, 2011 at 4:38amOct '10
Re: Illegal Alien Drivers: Impound Their Cars, or Else . . .
wilber forge: To say this is a dysfuntional process is a moot point in the strange P.C. oddities that motivate things in the US today.
Anyone care to take a drive with me from Mexico City to points North ? Interesting at best. A simple error can cost one more than you want to know.
In short laws are laws, one comes to hold the thought of violating same when having long stays in another country have consequences.
When only Third World countries have laws and punishments to be respected what does that speak to ? ·
Sep 27 at 7:35pm
Edited on Sep 27 at 07:38 pm
May '10
Re: Illegal Alien Drivers: Impound Their Cars, or Else . . .
In your opinion, is that a politically-motivated policy, or one that truly reflects the desire of law enforcement to not burden itself with federal issues? Political appointees -- from generals on the joint chiefs of staff to big city police chiefs to local fire chiefs -- seem eager to kow-tow to their political masters, and then they use their disciplinary powers to create at least an illusion of solidarity among the rank and file.
I've seen two apparent examples of this. One was a controversy in San Francisco at least 10 years ago about what I recall was a sit-lie ordinance. The Supes (a bigger bunch of dolts you'll never see) had discerned that it was criminalizing homelessness, so they were against it. Sure enough, the chief at the time then came out against it for pragmatic grounds -- something like having bigger things to worry about -- and the local news dutifully ponied up some line officers who just as dutifully agreed with the merits of their chief's position. But then a friend of a friend on the force, in a private conversation, told me that of course the officers were in favor of the ordinance.
Edited on September 28, 2011 at 5:08amOct '10
Re: Illegal Alien Drivers: Impound Their Cars, or Else . . .
Double post, My apologies.
Aug '10
Re: Illegal Alien Drivers: Impound Their Cars, or Else . . .
As Wilber says PC Kills . Heck HIPAA kills. EPA kills. ATF has Fast n Furious . State funds Hamas, Pakistan , Hezbollah. Stop the Obama- I wanna get off !
Sep '11
Re: Illegal Alien Drivers: Impound Their Cars, or Else . . .
It would be worthwhile to discuss the financial consequences of illegal aliens driving cars (they do not register the car, they do not insure the car, they have accidents--driving up the actuarial cost of uninsured motorists; hence we collectively pay the insurance cost for them).
But I think you have to look at this kind of policy from the perspective of the traffic officer, and consider what else might follow from such a policy.
Could the officer to stopped the illegal reasonably have foreseen that a 4-year-old child would be run down? Of course not. Could the officer even have reasonably foreseen that the illegal would drive again?
To what standard of omniscience do we hold a police officer, as to what he or she might "reasonably foresee?"
Traffic accidents happen. People get hurt. People may panic, fearing arrest, and flee the scene. Tragedies occur. In this case there's no linkage--if A, then B, then C, then dead 4-year-old. It's a sad story--but expecting every police officer to intuit whether or not a driver will subsequently kill someone is asking too much.
May '10
Re: Illegal Alien Drivers: Impound Their Cars, or Else . . .
wilber forge: When only Third World countries have laws and punishments to be respected what does that speak to ? · Sep 27 at 7:35pm
Edited on Sep 27 at 07:38 pm
I'm not sure if it's just Third World countries. I remember getting pulled over in Switzerland by a local cop for no other reason than to check my papers -- it was everything I could do to not get indignant about probable cause and such, which of course would have been ridiculous. The officer was very polite, even friendly, and just wanted to see if I was up to no good. If I had been there illegally, or drunk or license less or whatever, I do not think it would have gone well.
We may have covered this already at Ricochet, but can someone refresh me on other countries that seem so blithely unwilling to enforce the immigration laws passed by their elected representatives?
May '10
Re: Illegal Alien Drivers: Impound Their Cars, or Else . . .
John Murdoch: Could the officer to stopped the illegal reasonably have foreseen that a 4-year-old child would be run down? Of course not. Could the officer even have reasonably foreseen that the illegal would drive again?
To what standard of omniscience do we hold a police officer, as to what he or she might "reasonably foresee?"
Traffic accidents happen. People get hurt. People may panic, fearing arrest, and flee the scene. Tragedies occur. In this case there's no linkage--if A, then B, then C, then dead 4-year-old. It's a sad story--but expecting every police officer to intuit whether or not a driver will subsequently kill someone is asking too much. ·
We have licenses for a reason, at least nominally to provide some reassurance that the licensee can drive properly. Of course the officer doesn't know that the illegal will mow down a four year old, but his unlicensed status makes this more likely. With all due respect, by this logic we should let drunk drivers go because we don't know for certain that they'll not go home, throw away their bottle, and never drive in an impaired state again.
May '10
Re: Illegal Alien Drivers: Impound Their Cars, or Else . . .
Garcia should have been deported after he had been stopped in June '10, in keeping with the people's duly legislated immigrations laws. That he wasn't shows that the rule of law, and equality before the law in this country is a cruel hoax.
If Garcia isn't bound to respect and abide by the damned law, why should I?
Nov '10
Re: Illegal Alien Drivers: Impound Their Cars, or Else . . .
It’s at least a weekly occurrence, if not daily, to learn of either a police officer feloniously killed by an illegal alien or a citizen killed or seriously injured in a car crash caused by an illegal alien, usually drink and unlicensed.
I wish politicians would find out the truth — most hispanics in this country legally are not sympathetic to the illegals. Rick Perry seems to think it's heartless to enforce immigration laws, but he’s wrong. Ignoring the law is heartless to the people who obey the law.
Jan '11
Re: Illegal Alien Drivers: Impound Their Cars, or Else . . .
May I suggest impoundment with them in the trunk. I'm sure you could get a lot of support for this policy from the rank & file police.
Oct '10
Re: Illegal Alien Drivers: Impound Their Cars, or Else . . .
Nicky Diaz > Meg Whitman
Sep '10
Re: Illegal Alien Drivers: Impound Their Cars, or Else . . .
I agree with most of everything that was said. I have conclude that the border is not secured, because the political establishment, that's both parties,find it politically advantageous not to do so. This means they put their own political welfare before the safety and welfare of the American people. In my book presidents Clinton, Bush and Obama have more culpability in the death of this four year old than the police officer.
Sep '11
Re: Illegal Alien Drivers: Impound Their Cars, or Else . . .
Ottoman Umpire
We may have covered this already at Ricochet, but can someone refresh me on other countries that seem so blithely unwilling to enforce the immigration laws passed by their elected representatives? · Sep 27 at 7:58pm
The U.S., Canada, and Australia are the large countries with undefended borders. That we are militarizing the border with Mexico is unhappy--but necessary. (Between our running guns to the drug cartels, and Mexico consciously exporting their indigent to the U.S., I think a case could be made that the U.S. and Mexico are having their own form of asymmetric war.) Militarizing the border with Canada is simply deplorable (and in some cases ludicrous).
It would be an extremely interesting discussion to consider what increases in the staffing of police forces, prosecutor's offices, the court system, and the prisons would be necessary to "enforce the immigration laws passed by their elected representatives." Not to mention, of course, the exponential increase in the size of the federal Department of Homeland Security, and Immigrations & Customs Enforcement.