The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink About05/18/2010 03C-2 Citizen Service Request Response RE: Police Chief's Involvement in Immigration Rally r R l 4 -nela Then 3C- Z._ City ofYakima Police Department 200 S..3' Street Yakima, Washington 98901 <.�'� Samuel Granato, Chief of Police Telephone (509)575-6200 Fax (509)575-6007 ' . Mem`orandum i May 17, 2010 ''. TO Dick Zais, City Manager and City Council FROM = Sam Granato, Chief of Police SUBJECT: Compliant of Bobbi Byrnes and Betty Rohrich ref Immigration march • At the May 4 Yakima City Council.meeting, Bobbie Byrnes and BettyaRohrich; while also raising other concerns, commented about my participation in an immigration reform march and rally the previous Saturday. As requested, I am responding to the comments -made by Mrs. Byrnes and Mrs; • Rohrich. To be clear, my only participation in the May 1 march was in an official capacity. As part of the Yakima Police Department Security Detail and Chief of Police; I helped inonitorthe activity of the • marchers and counter demonstrators Ito en •sure the safety of both groups. Mrs. Rohrich apparently felt :. that I had been disrespectful to her group by turning my back -on them during the march. During most • of the march, I was riding in a YPD vehicle°with Deputy Yakima•Police Chief Kelly Rosenow; honly exited my vehicle when a group of marchers began t� turn around as if to- confront the counter demonstrators. During that time, I, along with other members of the Security Detail, primarily, faced _ the larger of the two groups, the marchers, as is standard crowd control procedure. We successfully encouraged the marchers to move away: No disrespect wasintended by my actions at any time.' ; <: : , I did participate in the post -march rally; but only in a personal capacity. Once the march concluded, I was no longer on duty. I had been invited to speak at the post -march .rally by event organizer• Tomas• Villanueva. Even though I Was introduced using my official title; I made it clear before beginning my remarks that I was' speaking for 'Myself, not as a' representative of the City.: My remarks• mostly; focused on my personal objection to the suggestion that local police become involved in enforcing : federal immigration laws. I also briefly mentioned my concern about what I see as increasing rhetoric against` Hispanics due to'the immigration reform debate. Again, my comments reflected my-personal opinions on a topic' of na concern and I presented' them as such during the post -march rally:. • Mrs. Rohrich complained to the Council that I did not acknowledge the counter demonstrators or engage in conversation with them. As mentioned before, during the march I was focused on my duties as 'part of the YPD Security Detail: I'did talk to the'march/rally organizers in preparation for the event to provide them with instructions on how to encourage demonstrators to act, appropriately. I did so because of an incident caused by two:marchers•during the event'a.couple of years ago. .I have made an extra, effort since that event to emphasize to the `march/rally organizers that the YPD would .;: not hesitate tb'arrest anyone involved in unruly behavior. I have not had to do:the:same with the . counter demonstrator group because it has usually been small in number and well behaved. Were Mrs. Rohrich or Mrs. Byrnes to invite me to provide more formal remarks to their group, I would certainly accept, However, unlike the invitation I received this•-year from Mr. Villanueva, I have . • never receiveda request to address the counterdemonstrator's group`or. the organization representing them. Mrs. Byrnes also expressed' concern about my role in the 2009 immigration reform:march and rally. • Contrary to Mrs. Byrnes assertions, I did not give a speech during the 2009 pre march rally nor did I 1 • dead the 2009 march. I was in an unmarked YPD vehicle at the head of the 2009 march, but only as part of the YPD Security Detail. Deputy Police Chief Rosenow rode along with me. That was the extent of my participation in last year's event. Of all of the comments made by Mrs. Byrnes and Mrs. Rohrich, the most concerning to me had to do with references made to my ethnicity and whether I am "soft on gangs" because of that. To clarify, I recognize and appreciate my ancestry, but I am first and foremost an American. One of my grandfathers came from Italy, the other from Mexico Both immigrated to the U.S. and became - citizens. My Italian grandfather was a vegetable grower while my Mexican grandfather served for more than three decades as a member of the San Antonio Police Department. My great grandfather on my dad's side of the family, Santiago Brito, served as a Texas Ranger, Town Marshall for the City of Brownsville, Texas, and Sheriff of Cameron County; Texas. He was killed in the line of duty and • his name is inscribed on the National Peace Officer's Memorial in Washington, D.C. My family also includes two signers of the Texas Declaration of Independence, Jose Navarro and Col. Francisco Ruiz. As a result of their having denounced the Mexican government, both were declared traitors to Mexico and sentenced to death -in- absentia by Santa Ana. They are buried,at the San Fernando . Cathedral with other heroes of the Texas Revolution along with other famous names like Crockett, - Boone, and Travis. Incidentally. of the forty-four signatures, only three were Hispanic. I am proud of my family's connection to this count commitment to freedom have dedicate country '.& dedicated my life and career to the rule of law and to upholding the principles upon which America has been built. I am confident that my career, provides ample evidence that I have made every effort to aggressively fight gang violence and gang crime. Before arriving in Yakima, I was a gang investigator, supervisor of a gang enforcement unit; and a original member of the Texas Gang Investigator's Association . ( "TGIA "). 'I trained numerous law enforcement personnel in gang interdiction techniques, including the current president of the TGIA, Martin Deleon, and ,gave more.than,200 presentations onissues related to gangs. , When I first became Chief of Police, there was a lack of recognition here that this area even had a gang problem. I dedicated myself to changing that perception. During my tenure as Yakima's Chief of Police, I have created the YPD Gang Unit,, led efforts to establish. the, Yakima County Gang , Task Force, initiated emphasis: patrols.to target gang members, helped to,found the Yakima County Violent Crimes Task Force, initiated the Gang Resistance Education and Training ( "GREAT") program, added more YPD School Resource Officers, and introduced the Gang -Net database resource, to this community. I have also requested a Safe Streets FBI task force be established in the Yakima area to focus on gang violence and gang crime, successfully, secured grant: funding to enhance YPD anti -gang efforts, and lobbied the state legislature numerous times to strengthen local law enforcement's ability to fight - gangs _ , I believe my record speaks for itself I am frustrated that liberal laws, and courts in Washington State are holding law enforcement back from doing.morel° interdict gangs. I hope that legislators will become more willing to adopt a holistic, comprehensive approach regarding fighting gang violence and gang crime,. and I will continue to work toward achieving that goal. Our lawmakers must come to grips with the hard reality that gangs are a problem not just in Yakima, but throughout the state, and that the issue is not just limited to Hispanics as some would have you believe., Finally, I am an equal opportunity law enforcement officer:.I am committed to equal enforcement of the law regardless of race; creed, nationality, political affiliation, or my ,personal opinion of those, laws. Please let me know if I need to provide : any additional comments or explanation. 2