New officers join Salinas Police Department

UPDATE 1/26/2017 6:25 PM:

Despite President Donald Trump’s executive orders, many cities say they will maintain their sanctuary city status. While Salinas is not a sanctuary city, the police department says it will not enforce federal immigration laws. We caught up with top brass during a graduation ceremony on Thursday.

No longer students, now sworn law enforcement. On Thursday, 20 new officers and deputies were welcomed into the law enforcement community. These new boots on the ground say they want to make their communities a better place.

“I was born and raised in Salinas,” Officer Jordy Urrutia said. “It’s the reason I want to work there, give back to my community. It helped me out a lot, so I’ll go back home, work hard and give it my all.”

But Salinas police officers face a lot of challenges. Some include a high crime rate and many people in the community are afraid of law enforcement.

Now with word that President Trump wants to reinstate certain Immigration and Customs Enforcement policies, the fear could grow. The Salinas Police Department wants to reinforce its message – they don’t ask questions about immigration status.

“We’ve made it clear over the years and we don’t intend to change our policies,” said Deputy Chief Dave Shaw. “Our residents have nothing to fear from us. We are going to continue to treat them the same as anybody else and that’s what we’re here for, to help the community as a whole, not just specific people.”

Because Salinas police doesn’t enforce immigration laws, there’s no real training on the matter. However, Shaw said all officers go through procedural justice and police legitimacy training.

As for someone who will work hand in hand with the community, Officer Urrutia said he wants the people to know that he is serving them.

“We know that there’s a fear of reporting a crime because they feel they could be sent back to Mexico or the other countries,” Urrutia said. “They (training officers) tell us go step by step and let them know what you can do for them and let them know they can trust you.”

ORIGINAL POST:

The Salinas Police Department has four new officers. The department announced that officers Nathan Castillo, David Puckett, Clifton Smith and Jordy Urrutia graduated Thursday from the police academy at Monterey Peninsula College.

All four of the new officers have longstanding ties to the Central Coast. Two — Castillo and Urrutia — are Salinas natives. Smith was born and raised in Monterey County, and Puckett is a longtime Central Coast resident.

Today, KION’s Mariana Hicks spoke with one of the new graduates and Salinas Police Deputy Chief Dave Shaw about the challenges facing police officers. Watch tonight at 6 p.m. as they talk about working in neighborhoods torn by violence and worried about proposed changes to immigration policies.