Special Order 40

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Special Order 40 is a police mandate implemented in 1979 by the Los Angeles City Council and Police Chief Daryl Gates preventing LAPD officers from obtaining immigration status from detained suspects. The mandate was passed in an effort to encourage residents who are in the country illegally to report crimes without intimidation. Critics of the measure point out that the mandate also prevents officers from obtaining immigration status from gang members, violent criminals, and other felons.

S.O. 40 became a topic of public controversy in Los Angeles in the 1980s when Mayor of Los Angeles Tom Bradley declared the city to be a sanctuary city. The controversy arose again to an even greater magnitude in 2006 when Mayor of Los Angeles Antonio Villaraigosa essentially made the same sanctuary-city declaration. In 2008, S.O. 40 came under increased fire from Doug McIntyre, Kevin James, Walter Moore and various other figures in the public eye for allowing the scenario that resulted in the homicide of Jamiel Shaw II by an illegal immigrant gang member.

[edit] Further reading

• Linder, Charles L.. "Save Special Order 40", Los Angeles Times, May 6, 2007. 

[edit] External links

• City of Los Angeles: REPORT OF THE RAMPART INDEPENDENT REVIEW PANEL - A Report to the Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners Concerning Special Order 40
• Los Angeles Police Department: Newsroom - LAPD Holds Community Meeting Regarding Special Order 40
• Los Angeles Police Department: Chief's Message, June 2005 (contains comments from Chief of Police William J. Bratton on page 2 about his May 2005 clarification of S.O. 40)
• Walter Moore: Jamiel's Law (actual text of proposed ordinance authored by Walter Moore in the wake of the homicide of Jamiel Shaw II)
• Walter Moore: Jamiel's Law (official web site)