Paul Dobson, Phoenix Cop Who Opposes Arizona Immigration Law, Is Now Under Investigation

[babylonsister]

Ryan Grim

Paul Dobson, Phoenix Cop Who Opposes Arizona Immigration Law, Is Now Under Investigation


First Posted: 07-23-10 03:15 PM | Updated: 07-23-10 03:15 PM


An Arizona police officer who spoke out against the state's new draconian immigration law is under investigation related to his statement, Officer Paul Dobson told the Huffington Post.

"I've been admonished not to talk about the investigation, so I can't talk about the investigation. They made it clear that it's related to the interview," he said. "That's public."

Officer Dobson responded to a request by the Brave New Films Foundation for officers to speak out against the law, SB 1070. Phoenix Police Chief Jack Harris spoke out in favor of the legislation, suggesting that Arizona policy considers only certain types of public opinions off-limits for officers.

Dobson said that his fellow officers have treated him with respect and that he is working while the investigation is ongoing, but subtle pressures are being applied. "My colleagues, face to face, are being very gracious. The majority of them disagree with me, but they've surprised me in how gracious they've been," he said. "Behind my back, it's a different story. A lot of hurtful things have been said."

Dobson spoke bluntly about the law. "I have a great deal of contempt for it. I'm very emotional about it," he said in the video. "This law will make me feel like a Nazi out there."

Video at link:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/23/paul-dobson-phoenix-cop-w_n_657429.html

[Cirque du So-What]

1. Well, that's one

Dobson confirms that the majority of fellow officers disagree with his stance - preferring instead to remain strutting martinets in service to the fascists who created this travesty of a law.

Note to the police apologists who are scurrying about frenetically this morning: the majority in the Phoenix PD have no problem with emulating the Nazis.

[Name removed]

2. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[hobbit709]

3. The Nazis didn't spring those camps up overnight when they got into power.

Maybe you should read up on how they got into power and how it built up before you use that.

Funny how all the actual statistics show that the illegals are not the huge problem that you are claiming.

You have made my list

[cowman]

6. Doesn't matter if I made your list

He compared them to nazis and I highly doubt that the Phoenix Police are nazis. I take great exception when police are compared to nazis as my oldest daughter is a Las Vegas Metro Police Officer and she is a damn good one. The vast majority of police in the country are honest, hardworking men and women and don't deserve that title. Have you read the law yet?
All it does is mirror the Fed law with more safeguards.
BTW they are a HUGE problem when it comes to emergency services, as a 35 year veteran of the Las Vegas Fire&Rescue, I deal with illegal aliens all the time, I may not like the fact that they are here illegally but I still give them my absolute best care when I run on them medically.

[Cirque du So-What]

5. Paul Dobson, the police officer, who first used the term 'nazi' - not me

but it's more fun to attack a member of DU by tossing around insults like sugar candies toward the kiddies at the Christmas parade, right? Nice bit of regional chauvinism tossed in for good measure, I see: 'you don't live where I do, so you know nothing!' Feh!

One need not extract gold teeth in order to exhibit nazi-like behavior. Failure to address fascistic actions because it doesn't replicate Hitler's regime in toto is a recipe for excusing the creeping fascism that's taking root in our own society.

[cowman]

7. You said

that the Phoenix PD has no problem emulating the nazis didn't you? When you accuse them of emulating the nazis, then that means all the horrible crimes they committed, do you really want to go down that road? I apologize if I got a little nasty, i have a daughter who is a police officer and comparing police to nazis is a sore subject to me.
And you never answered my ? have you read the AZ law yet?

[Cirque du So-What]

9. Yes, I've read the fucking law!

Your 'default position' appears to be: 'anyone who disagrees with me is fucking stoopid' (as I glanced at previous posts of yours). If you haven't been called on your bad attitude problem yet, here's hoping it gets addressed tout de suite!

Here's a position paper from the Arizona ACLU concerning this law, which you adore so much:

Section 2

Would create a new section A.R.S. § 11-1051 that:

(A) Prohibits cities, towns, and counties from having any policy in place limiting the investigation of violations of federal enforcement laws to less than the full extent permitted by federal law.
This appears to prohibit localities from having policies aimed at increasing trust within immigrant
communities, such as not questioning victims and witnesses of crime about their immigration status.

It also severely ties the hands of local governments by not permitting them to exercise their own
judgment about the allocation of law enforcement resources because it requires police agencies to
treat administrative violations of the immigration law on the same level as serious felonies. We are
aware of no other law—except funding incentives—that attempt to dictate law enforcement priorities
in this way.

(B) Requires police officers to make a reasonable attempt to determine the immigration status of a person whenever there is reasonable suspicion that the person is person is unlawfully present and verify that status with the federal government, except to the extent that it would hinder an ongoing investigation.

Requires all local law enforcement to investigate a person’s immigration status when certain
indicators exist that give rise to reasonable suspicion that they are in the country unlawfully,
regardless of whether that person is suspected of a crime. Some examples of reasonable suspicion of
undocumented status that have been upheld by the courts include not having proper identification and
evasive behavior. Under the law, a person would be presumed to be in the country lawfully if they
could show valid government ID or tribal identification. Contrary to the claims of some proponents,
the bill does not prohibit officers from relying on race or ethnicity in deciding who to investigate
Because most police officers have not been trained to enforce immigration law, many U.S. citizens and
lawful permanent residents will be wrongfully detained and would likely have a claim against their
local police agencies for damages resulting from their detention.

http://acluaz.org/ACLU-AZ%20Section%20By%20Section%20Analysis%20of%20SB1070updated%204-14-10.pdf

How in hell do you insist that the law merely reiterates federal law? Have YOU read the fucking law, or are you listening to one of those RW fuckheads? Your opinion is certainly closer to aforementioned RW fuckheads than the Arizona ACLU, that's for fuckin' sure!

As for your daughter, I meant no disrespect for her, although she has my sympathy. I'm not going to cease my criticism of either bad police officers or police departments who place a greater value on corporate interests than on protecting the people.

[MikeNY]

4. A cop expressing free speech??

He didn't give up his Constitutional rights when he became a police officer. So he is entitled to state whatever he wants and feel however he feels. The anti-immigration law in Arizona may seem draconian to people who don't live Arizona, but the efforts of the feds to strike the law down may backfire. That is of course if the Supreme Court rules fairly on the subject. The federal government does not exist without the states, and despite an effort made to suggest the contrary, truth trumps fiction. Arizona is a border state and they have rights to protect their citizens from a foreign power (even if it is Mexico). If looking at it objectively, there is very little illegal or unconstitutional about the immigration law. One question remains is whether or not the federal government is even capable of handling immigration in its current, dilapidated situation. I would be surprised if the SCOTUS allows this to continue...

Plus, the whole thing Obama did by making certain areas of parkland off limits to US citizens seemed more like punishment to Arizona to make their politicians look bad, as some sort of decree and not based on any national emergency. It was pretty pathetic, from an objective viewpoint.

I sympathize with people trying to get into this country, but as long as you have the "War on Drugs" you are going to have border conflicts. You could also thank NAFTA. Why did Clinton militarize parts of the border immediately after signing that bill into law? Maybe he realized what this really was: managed trade that would make Mexico suffer. He had to know, along with others, this would develop into a humanitarian problem.

In any 3-way agreement, there is a good chance 1 party is going to get screwed for the benefit of the other 2.

[cowman]

8. Very well

written post. I agree with you 100%, people who bash the AZ law without having read it are being dishonest, like Eric Holder and Janet Napolitano who made the Admin look like fools when asked, after bashing the law, if they had read it yet and they said no, how fucking stupid is that?