UPSTATE  POLICING  PROJECT  

   

Dear Community Advocate, The Upstate Policing Project is a collaboration between the Worker Justice Center of New York, Inc., the Kathryn O. Greenberg Immigration Justice Clinic of Cardozo Law School, the Cornell Farmworker Program, the Greater Rochester Coalition for Immigration Justice, the Wayne Action for Racial Equality, and several local community advocates. The purpose of this project is to encourage the creation of local police department policies that prohibit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. The Upstate Policing Project was created in 2013 due to concerns that local police officers were improperly inquiring about drivers’ and passengers’ immigration status and calling U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The Upstate Policing Project worked with the New York Civil Liberties Union and the New York State Police to create a new State Police policy in which the troopers are generally not permitted to inquire about immigration status or call immigration enforcement during regular interactions with the public, such as during a routine traffic stop or in response to a 911 phone call. This year, we are expanding our effort to create similar pro-immigration policies with other local police agencies. The purpose of the attached survey is to collect information regarding different police departments’ immigration-related policies and practices from community members on the ground. We will use this information to support our strategic plan in determining which departments to approach and how to approach them. Please note that we are looking to gather information regarding any local police department (e.g. county police, city police, etc.). We hope that you will fill out this survey about local law enforcement agencies you work with or any immigration-related police policies or practices you know of or have observed. We also ask you to please contact us with any specific incidents of immigration related police activities, such as the contacting of CBP following a routine traffic stop or a checkpoint conducted with CBP. If you have information on more than one local police department, please feel free to send us multiple surveys. Anonymity will be protected and this information will be used only within our community of advocates. Please let us know if you have any concerns regarding confidentiality. If you or your organization is interested, members of our project can arrange a meeting to discuss the work that we are doing. We appreciate all of your input and help. Feel free to contact us with any questions you may have. Please return this survey to Efthimia Barbagiannis, Cardozo Law School, at [email protected] or via fax at (212) 790-0256.

   

UPSTATE  POLICING  PROJECT  

   

The Upstate Policing Project is a collaboration between the Worker Justice Center of New York, Inc., the Kathryn O. Greenberg Immigration Justice Clinic of Cardozo Law School, the Cornell Farmworker Program, the Greater Rochester Coalition for Immigration Justice, the Wayne Action for Racial Equality, and several local community advocates. Last year, the Upstate Policing Project worked with the New York State Police in order to create a new police policy in which the State Police are generally not permitted to inquire about immigration status or call Customs and Border Protection. This year, the project is now expanding our effort to create similar policies with local police agencies in our Upstate communities. This survey seeks to collect community knowledge of local police departments. We thank you for your cooperation. Please return this survey to Efthimia Barbagiannis, Cardozo Law School, at [email protected] or via fax at (212) 790-0256. Name of Survey Participant and Contact Information (Email or Phone Number): Today’s Date:

Possible Police Department to work with:

How has your interaction with this department been in regards to immigration matters? Would you consider the department to be “immigrant friendly” or more hostile? Please explain.

Have you observed any interactions between the department and noncitizens? Can you detail these observations?

Are you aware of any official policy this department has with regard to interactions with noncitizens? If so, what is it? How did you learn this information?

   

UPSTATE  POLICING  PROJECT  

   

Do you see cooperation between the police department and CBP or ICE? If yes, what sort?

Have you spoken with anyone from this department about improving the relationship between this department and the immigrant communities? If so, with whom have you spoken?

Do you have any individual contacts within this police department and/or is there a person you know of in the department with whom we should try to communicate regarding immigration policy change?

A large concern that has arisen during the course of this project is a CBP presence during local police checkpoints (for drunk driving or checking automobile registration). Have you noticed any such occurrence? Please explain.

Do you know of any local stakeholders (i.e. local business owners, farmers) that would be interested in supporting this project?

Would you be interested in assisting us in this campaign in a particular county?

Is there any other information you would like to include?

Thank you for your cooperation, we greatly appreciate it. Please return this survey to Efthimia Barbagiannis, Cardozo Law School, at [email protected] or via fax at (212) 7900256.