August 3, 2007

 

Mr. Joe Kirby

Marietta Daily Journal

580 Fairground Street

Marietta, GA  30060

 

Dear Mr. Kirby:

 

In response to the August 3, 2007 Marietta Daily Journal article Georgia Latino Leader Resigns, I would like to clarify several issues that were directed towards the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office.  While I understand Mr. Gonzalez’s concern for the Latino community, it is my belief that the message he is sending may be one sided. The Office of Sheriff is a Constitutional Office and in 2004, the citizens of this county elected me Sheriff.  As such, I do not need to ask for the Cobb County Board of Commissioners nor any one person or group’s permission to utilize tools available to me to enforce the laws of this state.

 

The Cobb County Sheriff's Office has historically worked closely with ICE to identify illegal aliens coming into our jail.  With the increase in the number of foreign born in our custody, I felt it was necessary to implement the 287(g) program which was part of the Immigration and Nationality Act passed by Congress in 1996.   The statement that the Cobb County Board of Commissioners approved the utilization of the 287(g) program in October of 2006 is not accurate.  However, they did endorse and support the Sheriff’s Office Memorandum of Understanding with ICE. 

 

As for Mr. Gonzalez’s statement that “the October action has led to fault in public safety, with immigrants going around saying don’t trust the police”, my response is that if you commit a crime in Cobb County, whether here legally or illegally, you should fear the police.  I may have very little control of what happens on the federal level, but I can and will deal with criminals who are preying on our citizens.

 

In Cobb County we are blessed to have elected officials who are dedicated to their jobs and are willing to work together for the betterment of our community.   Commission Chairman Sam Olens and the other Board of Commissioners work diligently  with the Sheriff’s Office to provide our agency with the funding resources necessary to manage the jail, service the courts, and purchase safety equipment for our deputies.  More importantly, the Board of Commissioners has supported the North Central Georgia Law Enforcement Academy, (something the State of Georgia should be doing) which provides training for our deputies as well as other law enforcement officers in the county, local municipalities and other agencies in the region.

 

As I said before, I understand Mr. Gonzalez’s passion for the Latino Community.  However, it was evident with my first encounter with him thru forwarded emails to the entire Cobb Latino Initiative that he was focused on attacking the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office for profiling.  Law enforcement in general and I personally take any criticism of this nature very seriously.  Yet in reality, after further investigation, the allegations made by Mr. Gonzalez involved absolutely no participation by any Cobb Sheriff’s Office personnel.

 

From my perspective, all of us should have one common goal and that is to make our community a safer place to live, work and raise our families.  I can assure you that I and the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office staff will always be available to citizens to discuss how we can remove criminals from our community and reduce the crime rate. 

 

Sincerely,

 

 

 

Neil Warren

Sheriff