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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (May 16, 2012)
WWW . THESKANNER . COM M AY 16, 2012 S EATTLE , W ASHINGTON V OLUME XXXIV, N O . 20 25 CENTS For The Skanner news alerts Text "NEWS" to 503-715-0890 or scan this QR code C HALLENGING P EOPLE TO S HAPE A B ETTER F UTURE N OW SPIRIT Police Reform Lawsuit Seattle Could Face DOJ Lawsuit Over Police Reforms PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED By Gene Johnson The Associated Press People celebrated the “Spirit of West Africa” May 12 at Seattle Center. The festival featured traditional dance and music from artists from West African countries like Senegal, Guinea, Benin, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Congo, and Uganda. Federal Anti-Immigration Program Organizers successfully enlist city bureaus in fight against ICE By Manuel Valdes The Associated Press SEATTLE (AP) — First, it was thought the full activation of the federal immigrant jail check program was up to the states. Then in Washington State, maybe it was a county decision. But despite objections by some state governors, local police agencies and immigrant rights groups, the federal gov- ernment has been fully activat- ing the program — Secure Communities — throughout the nation, including Washington State. The decision by the Depart- ment of Homeland Security to bypass local and state agencies to collect the fingerprints neces- sary has left immigrant rights groups with few options left. So now, to challenge the fed- eral program, some are turning to their local officials. In Seattle, immigrant rights and domestic violence groups have begun lobbying King County Executive Dow Con- INDEX News ........................2,4 Calendar ....................2 Bids/Classifieds............3 stantine to halt honoring a key component of the program. They want King County to stop holding suspected illegal immi- grants in the county jail for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a practice called “detainers.’’ At least two other counties — Cook County in Illinois and Santa Clara County in Califor- nia — in the country have begun ignoring detainers. San Francis- co is also declining to hold ille- gal immigrants for the federal government. Cook County’s decision, fol- lowed by a publicized case of an illegal immigrant who commit- ted a crime after being released, prompted a sharp rebuttal from the ICE’s director, who said the county was compromising pub- lic safety. Secure Communities uses fin- gerprint analysis to identify ille- gal immigrants in county jails. Local jurisdictions send the fin- gerprints of peopled booked in jail to the FBI. Now, ICE uses the FBI database to cross check See ICE on page 2 SEATTLE (AP) — Seattle’s mayor may soon have something in common with tough-talking Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio. The U.S. Justice Department has threat- ened to sue Mayor Mike McGinn over alle- gations that Seattle police officers regularly use excessive force. McGinn is due to respond this week to DOJ demands for reforms in the Police Department. If McGinn doesn’t agree to make changes that satisfy the DOJ and agree to the appointment of an outside monitor, he can expect a lawsuit from the U.S. attorney in Seattle as early as next month. That’s the same ultimatum - standard in DOJ reviews of police departments - that drew an objection from Arpaio, who said he couldn’t stomach the idea of an independent monitor undermining his authority. “I am not going to surrender my office to the federal government,” he said last week after the DOJ sued him over allegations that his department racially profiled Latinos. It was only the second time since the ver- dict in the Rodney King police brutality case and Los Angeles riots that the Justice Department filed a lawsuit against a law enforcement agency with which it was unable to reach an agreement. On Monday, McGinn said for the first time that, in principle, he would agree to a monitor and a court-enforced settlement. But speaking on public radio station KUOW, he also said the changes proposed by federal prosecutors - including increased training and the hiring of more sergeants to supervise street officers - could cost the city $41 million a year. He said the changes could also jeopardize the department’s ability to respond to public safety emergencies, and the cost could require cuts to important city services. The DOJ disputes those points, calling the See COPS on page 4 Parents Won’t Let Their 550 Kids Take MAPS The schools and the district may suffer from protest’s after-effects SNOHOMISH, Wash. (AP) — A testing protest by parents in one western Washing- ton school district isn’t likely to affect the state budget, but the parents feel they got their message out that statewide academic testing is a waste of money. An organized group in the Snohomish School District kept 550 students from tak- ing the statewide Measurements of Student Progress this past week, the Everett Herald reported. The students who didn’t take their exams represented about 12 percent of the 4,501 students between third and eighth grade required to take the test in Snohomish. Last year, just 12 students missed the standard- ized tests in that district. State education officials told The Associ- ated Press the students won’t be punished for refusing to take their reading, writing, math or science exams. “It’s up to the district how they’re going to deal with the parents,’’ said Kristen Jaudon, spokeswoman for the Office of the Superin- tendent of Public Instruction. But th e schools and the district may suf- fer from the after-effects of the protest. The students who did not test but were See TEST on page 2
