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CWA Police Division Warns of Voter Intimidation
CWA's National Coalition of Public Safety Officers (NCPSO) called on its 19,000 members and other law enforcement officers around the country to take a stand against voter intimidation by "bogus cops" in the upcoming elections.
NCPSO President Chris McGill, a police officer in El Paso, Texas, said that in recent elections there have been frequent reports of organized intimidation, chiefly aimed at minority and elderly voters, by police look-alikes. Wearing official looking insignia or security guard uniforms, sometimes driving cars with decals mimicking law enforcement agencies, the phony "cops" photograph prospective voters and ask for ID to frighten people away from polling sites.
"Individuals participating in such activity have criminal intent, and their actions cannot be tolerated," NCPSO declared in a public statement issued Oct. 16. "NCPSO asks all officers to assist vigorously in enforcement against any criminal act that would suppress voter participation." In many cases, impersonating a police officer is a federal offense, according to McGill.
McGill cited a study by the NAACP and People for the American Way that listed numerous examples during the 2002 elections of voter intimidation in minority precincts by phony "law enforcement" personnel.
Already in 2004, in early voting underway in Florida, Rep. Corinne Brown (D-Fla.) revealed videotaped evidence of a private detective filming mostly African-American voters as they approached a polling place in Jacksonville.
"Our primary objective on (Election Day)," NCPSO stated, "will be to keep the path to the ballot box clear of obstructions. We all stand ready to protect the constitutional right of every citizen to cast his or her ballot without the fear of retribution or intimidation."
NCPSO President Chris McGill, a police officer in El Paso, Texas, said that in recent elections there have been frequent reports of organized intimidation, chiefly aimed at minority and elderly voters, by police look-alikes. Wearing official looking insignia or security guard uniforms, sometimes driving cars with decals mimicking law enforcement agencies, the phony "cops" photograph prospective voters and ask for ID to frighten people away from polling sites.
"Individuals participating in such activity have criminal intent, and their actions cannot be tolerated," NCPSO declared in a public statement issued Oct. 16. "NCPSO asks all officers to assist vigorously in enforcement against any criminal act that would suppress voter participation." In many cases, impersonating a police officer is a federal offense, according to McGill.
McGill cited a study by the NAACP and People for the American Way that listed numerous examples during the 2002 elections of voter intimidation in minority precincts by phony "law enforcement" personnel.
Already in 2004, in early voting underway in Florida, Rep. Corinne Brown (D-Fla.) revealed videotaped evidence of a private detective filming mostly African-American voters as they approached a polling place in Jacksonville.
"Our primary objective on (Election Day)," NCPSO stated, "will be to keep the path to the ballot box clear of obstructions. We all stand ready to protect the constitutional right of every citizen to cast his or her ballot without the fear of retribution or intimidation."