Stith responds

This response from Council member and Mayoral candidate Thomas Stith just reached my inbox, through the Partners Against Crime, District 2 list.

I'm going to post it in its entirety, without comment or markup, for you to read, and i'll be back later with some thoughts.

I feel it is important to correct the misconceptions about my effort to correct our current city policy that states our police in particular should not determine legal status of individuals who they are investigating for specific crimes. I belive it is important to provide our department with the proper tools to effectively investigate apparent crimes. I am not asking for the police to target Hispanics or any other group within our city. The police currently determine status when they are investigating a criminal act. Our council policy states they should not do this. I am asking that our policy reflect our practice. The police support this position based upon their review of the situation. This would apply to all persons and not single anyone out. I agree that some people have characterized this issue in a negative manner and that is unfortunate. I would hope that we would not let the real issue of providing our department with the proper guidance become lost in the current misinformation that is curculating.

Thomas Stith

And as a reminder, here's a transcript of the phone calls from last week:

Hello, this is Thomas Stith.

Did you know that Durham is a sanctuary city, a city where illegal immigrants commit crimes without fear of being deported? That's right, our local police can't inquire about the citizenship of people who commit a crime in our city.

We can change that with your help.

In Monday's city Council meeting, I'm going to introduce a resolution that ends the policy that makes Durham a safe haven for illegal immigrants. Call members of the City Council, and attend the City Council meeting on Monday to show your support. I'm Thomas Stith. Thanks for your time.