Zoe Lofgren: “Community trust policies result in more efficient policing. When State and local law enforcement agencies promote…”

“Community trust policies result in more efficient policing. When State and local law enforcement agencies promote community trust policies, public safety is increased. The current New York police commissioner and former chief of police in Los Angeles, William Bratton, said: ``When officers can speak freely with victims and witnesses, it goes a long way towards making every American neighborhood much safer.'' Here is a case study in New Haven, Connecticut. According to a 2010 report by the Police Executive Research Forum, New Haven, Connecticut, developed a community trust policy in which New Haven police assured immigrant communities that the police department's goals were to address crime and to make the streets safer. They encouraged people to report crime and to cooperate, regardless of their immigration status. The city law prohibited immigration status inquiries of crime victims, witnesses, or others who approached police for assistance. I would note that the bill before us would prohibit this policy, this law that New Haven adopted. The result of New Haven's policy and their other community trust policies were stronger ties between law enforcement and the immigrant community. Over the next several years, New Haven experienced a 46 percent decrease in murders and a 13 percent decrease in rape incidences. This policy, which this bill would prohibit, worked. This was a very important result.…”