Illegals not crux of traffic detail (The Evening Sun)

Illegals not crux of traffic detail
By KATHARINE HARMON Evening Sun Reporter
Article Launched: 03/19/2008 09:53:56 AM EDT

The police traffic detail that resulted in eight illegal immigrants being deported was a routine patrol and centered on traffic safety, not immigration issues, state police said.
In 41/2 hours, the joint patrol conducted March 5 by state and local police stopped 69 vehicles along Route 15 in Cumberland Township, said Cpl. Kenneth Hassinger of the Pennsylvania State Police Troop-H Vice Unit.
All but one or two of the citations and warnings issued by police were for speeding, Hassinger said. The others were for lane violations, he said.
And lane violations were the impetus for the arrest and subsequent deportation of the illegal immigrants, police said.
Two vans with North Carolina tags were traveling together on Route 15 about 1 p.m. and were pulled over for driving in the left passing lane, police said. Police said they initially believed each van contained only a driver, but when officers got next to the vehicle, they could see five passengers in one van and three in the other. All were Hispanic males.
Police questioned the passengers, who volunteered information that they were in the country illegally, Hassinger said.
News of the arrests raised questions about whether the stops were part of an effort to target illegal immigrants.
Hassinger said state police target an area for speeding and vehicle violations if there has been an increase in DUIs or traffic accidents.
Traffic patrols are done frequently by both the state police and Cumberland Township Police, he said. The only difference March 5 was that state police joined Cumberland police for a patrol. Troop H Vice Unit was involved because the local unit is part of the state police, Hassinger said.
Searching for illegal immigrants wasn't why the patrol was organized, Hassinger said.
"It was no different that any trooper running radar," he said.
State police Sgt. Robert Gano, who heads the Gettysburg barracks, said there is no assigned detail to target illegal immigrants.
"If the information comes to our attention, we look into it," he said.
The eight illegal immigrants were turned over to the former Immigration and Naturalization Services for the deportation process.
Regarding Wednesday's arrest, First Assistant District Attorney Brian Sinnett originally said the traffic stop operation is "a tool that's going to be used again."
He said he meant that it would combat crime in general, not target illegal immigrants.
Contact Katharine Harmon at kharmon@eveningsun.com.