ACLU: Holyoke police should be investigated regarding allegations of racial targeting of non-whites 'who look illegal'

MassLive

The American Civil Liberties Union has asked the Massachusetts attorney general to investigate Holyoke police regarding allegations of racial profiling in a Nov. 16 traffic stop and arrest.

Police in the stop at 240 Water St. denied people state and federal constitutional guarantees of equal protection, said a letter dated Tuesday from William C. Newman, director of the ACLU's Western Regional Office in Northampton, to the Boston office of Attorney General Martha M. Coakley.

"By this correspondence we seek to bring to the attention of the Massachusetts Attorney General a recent incident in which police officers in the City of Holyoke unjustifiably harassed and accosted several individuals and arrested one based on the officers' supposition that those individuals are immigrants, and request that the Attorney General take appropriate action," Newman's letter said.

According to citizen complaints about the incident filed with the Holyoke Police Department Nov. 23, Officer Patricia Alicea engaged in alleged misconduct in the arrest of Jose Loja Mayancela, 18, of Springfield. Mayancela was arrested and charged with unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle after police responded to a report at 6:35 p.m. of a suspicious vehicle with three people inside at 240 Water St., according to police and court documents.

Myancela pleaded guilty in Holyoke District Court and was fined $100, said Bliss Requa-Trautz, an organizer with Just Communities in Springfield, a group that helps immigrants. She said Myancela lacked proper legal representation.

Holyoke police mistreated more than just Mayancela in the traffic stop, said a press release from Just Communities.

Alicea and another unidentified officer interrogated four people at the scene whom the officers assumed were immigrants, said the press release from Bliss Requa-Trautz, an organizer with Just Communities.

"The interrogations consisted of implications of criminal wrongdoing, demands for proof of immigration status, and then throwing driver's licenses back at these individuals when they produced them, improperly impounding a car and effecting an improper arrest," the Just Communities press release said.

Those at the scene told police officers they had stopped at 240 Water St. because they were lost and waiting for help, said Newman's letter to Coakley's office.

The Just Communities press release said the incident highlights the need to pass the Trust Act, a bill currently in the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security that she said would clarify the role of local law enforcement related to immigrants.