April 23, 2010
Reasonable suspicion.
Two words. One gigantic impact.
That simple phrase will haunt every individual, resident or tourist, of the great state of Arizona. It places an immense burden on counties, cities, towns, nonprofit organizations and businesses. Simply, it negatively impacts the quality of life for all.
The idea behind the bill is obvious. We all recognize that illegal immigration is an issue, however the core of this issue lies within our nation’s, not our state’s, laws and procedures, therefore it is an issue that must be addressed at its core: federally. The newly enacted law is a complete failure on many different levels, primarily because of the phrase, “reasonable suspicion.”
Last March, the city of Phoenix made some of the hardest economic decisions to try and adopt a budget that emphasized and prioritized the needs of our residents first. We were able to overcome these challenges by working together with our neighborhoods, our staff and our unions. Together, we were able to work through those financial obstacles thanks to all who are generously giving a little more in order to keep Phoenix as one of the best cities in the nation to live in and to raise a family.
It saddens me that today, on April 23, 2010, Governor Janice Brewer signed into law a bill that places law enforcement, our cities and our communities in a no-win situation. As a city, we are placed between a rock and a hard place. On one hand, we break federal law by potentially racially profiling individuals. On the other, we break state law by not requesting proof of citizenship of individuals who an officer may or may not believe that “reasonable suspicion” exists when it comes to an individual’s citizenship. There’s that phrase again.
We, the city of Phoenix, must now brace ourselves for the cultural and economic impact. We need to adopt measures to protect our taxpayer’s hard-earned dollars. We need to find innovative alternatives to avoid spending our extremely limited resources on unnecessary issues that arise because of that, now nationally famous, phrase “reasonable suspicion.” We need to focus our resources on protecting our neighborhoods from real crime rather than “reasonable suspicion.”
My first recommendation is to have our Phoenix Police Department require proof of citizenship from every individual that is stopped. It does not matter if they are Caucasian, African-American, Asian, Middle Eastern, Hispanic, European or of any other race or ethnicity. We must protect our officers and our city from any racial profiling lawsuits, thus ensuring our city’s resources are better spent. Second, I urge President Barack Obama to file a federal injunction against this law. Lastly, if the federal government refuses to file an injunction, we, the city of Phoenix must do so. At this point, one lawsuit is better than the numerous ones that we will encounter, thus it is seen as an investment towards our city’s future.
Phoenix Vice Mayor Michael Nowakowski represents District 7. He can be reached at 602-262-7492 or council.district.7@phoenix.gov.