BASTROP, Texas -- After the Bastrop County Sheriff's Office has faced backlash following a "zero tolerance" traffic operation that resulted in around one dozen deportations, the sheriff has responded Tuesday, saying the operation had "nothing to do with immigration."
As part of the initiative, the Bastrop County Sheriff's department pulled over 63 drivers. Twenty-four of those people were arrested, and 13 were deported. A Texas state representative and an interfaith group said they believe a recent traffic enforcement targeted immigrants and Hispanics.
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On July 3, Bastrop Sheriff Maurice Cook released a statement on Facebook, saying that the traffic "initiative had nothing to do with immigration," and that "the only target of the initiative was traffic law violations and the results prove how badly it was needed."
Here's the full statement:
My office received a number of traffic related complaints from people living in the southwestern part of the County. The consensus was that additional patrols were needed to help control traffic and other concerns. We responded to these concerns on June 23 by assigning additional patrol units to the area which were equipped to work traffic. To make the initiative as effective as possible, the deputies were instructed to use zero tolerance for offenses. Zero tolerance means simply that when a traffic violation was observed, some enforcement action was taken, ranging from a warning to a citation to an actual custodial arrest.
I want to emphasize, there were no custodial arrests for minor equipment violations or minor moving violations.
During the initiative, a total of 63 three vehicles were stopped because of some type of traffic offense. Of these 63 vehicles, the drivers were issued 47 warnings for some offenses and 51 citations for others, depending on severity. Amazingly, 24 of the vehicles had drivers who needed to be placed in custody because of the seriousness of the offenses, including driving without a license at all or with a suspended license, or DWI. Two arrests were based on a fugitive who was found in one of the vehicles and cocaine which was found in another. Think about that. Of the 63 vehicles that were stopped, 38% of the drivers had no business operating a vehicle on our roads.
The only target of the initiative was traffic law violations and the results prove how badly it was needed. The initiative had nothing to do with immigration. The Sheriff’s office is entrusted with the responsibility to enforce traffic laws for the safety of all and it is a duty we are sworn to perform. None of the arresting officers knew of or asked about the citizenship of anyone who was arrested. That question is not asked until the jail staff is processing the person into jail. In the field, the deputies do not have access to the database needed to inquire about or verify citizenship. It simply is not a factor for the deputies who patrol Bastrop County.
I have been asked about the identity of the group that visited with me at the Sheriff’s Office. The group’s focus was on increasing law enforcement in the Stoney Point area of the County. It is not the custom of the Sheriff’s Office to reveal the names of citizen who make complaints or raise concerns in order to avoid having them criticized by people who do not share their concerns.
During a meeting with the citizen’s group and others who joined them on June 29, the spokespersons shifted the focus of the meeting from traffic enforcement and crime prevention to political issues involved in the immigration debate. Among the demands made were:
1. The Bastrop County Sheriff’s Office would pledge not to arrest people for No Driver’s License and/or other “minor” offenses.
2. The Bastrop County Sheriff’s Office would no longer ask people their citizenship status; and
3. A written pledge would be signed publicly in front of the San Juan Diego Mission in the Stoney Point Subdivision.
Even if I was inclined to do so as demanded (which I am not) in order to meet this group’s demands, I and the deputies who work for the Sheriff’s Office would have to violate the solemn, enforceable oaths we took to enforce laws.
Instead of criticism from some people, the deputies who were involved in the initiative deserve our thanks. I reviewed their actions and found no violations of law, policies or standards. All they did was what they do every day, make Bastrop County a safer place in which to live, work and raise our families.
I try to make myself available to meet with anyone who wants to talk to the Sheriff. If a request includes asking me or our deputies not to enforce the law, my position will not change.
Sheriff Maurice Cook, Bastrop County
Bastrop interfaith has responded to the sheriff's Facebook post. Here's the full statement:
Bastrop Interfaith requested a meeting with Sheriff Cook since the traffic crackdown occurred, and we reiterate that request to meet in person. Issues such as immigration and traffic safety are important ones, and are worth sitting down to discuss, which has been our goal for the past week. Our preference would be to not have this discussion through social media, which is why a face to face meeting is important.
Our request to the Sheriff has been to use his discretionary power, which is allowed by law, to ticket drivers for minor offences such as driving without a license or driving with a suspended license, instead of arresting them. Also, we have asked the Sheriff to instruct his deputies to inform drivers of their right not to answer questions about immigrations status, which is also allowed by law. And as previously reported, 23 Hispanics were arrested, of which 13 were taken into custody for deportation proceedings. We also want to make sure any policies are implemented fairly and evenly across the county.
We feel this would go a long way to minimizing unnecessary fear and the untold cost of deportation has on breaking up families and on the community. Bastrop Interfaith’s goal is to connect civic and religious institutions in the county so that families and communities can work with public officials and other leaders around a broad set of issues impacting them. We ask the Sheriff work with us to achieve this goal.