The National Day Laborer Organizing Network sued the Riverside Police Department to secure complete arrest records for undocumented immigrants. -DB

The Press-Enterprise
August 4, 2009
By Sonja Bjelland

PDF: Writ of mandate filed by the National Day Laborer Organizing Network

A day laborer group has sued the Riverside Police Department for records about the agency’s arrests of undocumented immigrants.

The National Day Laborer Organizing Network first requested the documents in May and did not receive all it wanted, so it sued in July, according to court documents. A status conference is set for Aug. 26.

The move followed police and U.S. Border Patrol arrests in January of undocumented immigrants near Madison Street and Indiana Avenue in Riverside near the Home Depot store. Day laborers looking for work congregate in that area. Police officials said they had received complaints of people urinating in public, riding bicycles on sidewalks and trespassing.

The request sought records about the Police Department’s plans with the U.S. Border Patrol and correspondence between the agencies. In addition, the group asked for a list of people arrested or cited for misdemeanors that includes the nationality of the individuals, who was transferred to federal custody and the legal basis for each arrest, according to court records.

In May, the Police Department sent a response stating that the agency had supplied the records that exist or are not confidential. In that response, the agency provided a list of the number of employees in the department by position and the portion of the policy and procedures manual related to the arrest and detention of undocumented persons, according to court documents.

The response did not explain why the other records were withheld, according to court records.

Police Sgt. Jaybee Brennan said such requests are forwarded to the City Attorney’s Office, and because the lawsuit is considered an ongoing case, the department would not comment. City Attorney Greg Priamos did not return calls.

Law enforcement agencies have some protections for records related to investigations but are not always exempt, said Peter Scheer, executive director of the California First Amendment Coalition, of which The Press-Enterprise is a member.

Arrest information qualifies as public, Scheer said. But not every agency collects each person’s nationality or other detailed information.

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