According to Minnesota’s public policy on police officers:
Peace officers shall conduct themselves, whether on or off duty, in accordance with the Constitution of the United States, the Minnesota Constitution, and all applicable laws, ordinances and rules enacted or established pursuant to legal authority
Sounds smart, doesn’t it.
You give your cops the authority to go after everyone that breaks the law. If it was enacted pursuant to lawful authority, and applies to the situation, then a cop in Minnesota can enforce it.
Now, if this is correct, then it is obvious that a police officer must enforce not only state law, but federal law. Let’s examine why this is o. A police officer does not forego making an arrest on drug charges simply because there is a DEA and the DEA has collateral jurisdiction. He doesn’t say “hold it right there, I can see a baggie of dope in your pocket, and we’re going to have to wait for someone from DEA to come and arrest you.” This would be stupid.
This would be insane.
A police officer similarly does not forego making an arrest for credit card fraud just because the Secret Service is tasked with enforcing these laws on a federal level. He doesn’t tell the manager at Wal-Mart who has caught an employee using a fake credit card to wait right there until we can get a Secret Service agent down there. That would be stupid.
It would be inefficient. It would be contrary to the way in which the system works. The feds may want to file charges in federal court later, but the arrest occurs because the law is broken, not because it’s a specific federal law.
Likewise, a police officer does not refuse to arrest a felon with a gun solely because the federal law, not the state law, has been broken. He doesn’t say “wait right there, I have to call the ATF and get them down here to arrest you.” Sure, the ATF investigates gun crimes, and the serious ones get prosecuted in federal court. But laws often overlap on these issues, and as a result, we have a system that allows state actors to enforce federal law because that is both smart and efficient. In each of these situations the public policy is expressed in terms of statutes, and the police officer enforces the will of the people by making appropriate arrests. That is the way the system is supposed to work. Now, apply a liberal dose of politics, add in a police administrator who would rather keep his job than do his job, and you’ve got a recipe for imbecility on a grand scale.
How in God’s name can it be rational for the Metro Transit Police (We’re talking to YOU, John Harrington!) in Minneapolis to discharge an officer for making an arrest for turnstile jumping and, at the same time, inquiring into the immigration status of the individual. The police arrested the man for committing a crime. He stole from the public by turnstile jumping. That makes it that much more expensive for the lawful citizens who are riding. If he didn’t have bus fare, he wasn’t paying taxes or contributing to the economy. He was a drain on the economy. He was a user of services that wasn’t paying for those services. He is not some “noble immigrant” but a bum that busts a turnstile because he is either too cheap or too criminal to pay his fare. But the idiots who run Metro Transit don’t get it. They are worried about “rebuilding the trust of the community.” They do this by firing a police officer acting under lawful authority inquiring into a federal crime. According to their website:
Metro Transit has its own licensed police force committed to the safety of its customers and employees. Metro Transit Police has the fourth largest jurisdiction in Minnesota. It covers everywhere regional transit buses and trains operate – currently eight counties and 85 cities.
Wow, eight counties and 85 cities and the fourth larest jurisdiction in Minnesota, and you don’t let your cops ask about legal status. Maybe it hasn’t occurred to Minnesota that it’s a border state? “Say there, guy with the towel on your head, I see you’ve got a truckload of fertilizer and a 20 gallon drum of diesel, but I wouldn’t want to racially profile you or ask about your immigration status. Have a nice day.”
This is the kind of law enforcement that is getting Americans killed!
Now, ICE deported the arrested invididual shortly after his arrest. That meant he was not supposed to be here. Does the fact that the cop was right have any bearing on this? Not according to the idiots of the MTA!
Chief Harrington, I am calling you out. You do not deserve the badge you wear if you think you get to decide what laws cops enforce. You are a disgrace to law enforcement, and a disgrace to this nation. You should be fired immediately!
The Well Armed Attorney 