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Not so, according to Brookline Police, but some think otherwise. Brookline police arrested 29 people in 2016 for driving without a valid license, at least a handful of those were not born in the US.

Last year Brookline Police issued 16,298 moving violations to motorists driving through town. Included in those violations were 29 arrests of people driving without a license.

A TAB review of the 29 arrests showed 20 of the people had faced more significant charges previously, such as driving under the influence or were wanted on warrants. The other nine were arrested because they never had a license and were driving when an officer pulled them over for a traffic offense. Of those nine, eight were Hispanic and one was black.

The review comes after a meeting discussing the town's consideration of Sanctuary City status. The question: How would police interact with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and should they be arresting people without a driver's license?

Brookline resident and Town Meeting Member Mariela Ames, a courtroom interpreter, brought the argument to the selectmen that arresting people for not having a license could unfairly put immigrants who are in the country illegally in ICE's crosshairs when the police run their fingerprints. Her husband, Brooks Ames, a lawyer, echoed the sentiments on social media.

Ames is suing a number of elected and paid town officials on behalf of a former firefighter, and for a time short time on behalf of two police officers, charging those in the suit with racism.

Brookline Police do not ask for immigration status when issuing citations or arrests, but when they arrest an individual, those fingerprints are sent to the FBI and then on to ICE. But none of the 29 individuals in 2016 arrested for not having an active driver's license while driving came back as wanted by immigration officials, although a number told police they were not born in the US.

By comparison, in 2016 the Cambridge Police arrested 1,882. Of those, 891 were not arrested on the spot, but summonsed to court. And 161 people were arrested for driving without ever having a license (chapter 90 section 10). But 138 of those were summonsed to court.

There were 147 arrests in 2016 in Wellesley. Seven of those were chapter 90 section 10, according to Wellesley Police. There were 6,395 traffic violations that same year. There were 4,994 written warnings, 1,145 civil citations, and 256 criminal complaints.

Newton Police said they arrested 19 individuals last year for driving without a license.

The police argument

Police Chief Daniel OLeary said the arrests are not personal.

Part of our job is to make sure people are safe on the roads. And stopping people who make traffic violations is a big part of that, he said. "In order for a community to have a safety on the road, the police have to have a enforcement policy thats balanced and fair. And to have people throw out at a public meeting that were not being fair when records indicate otherwise is not right. These are records they stand on their own," he said.

The state law says you cant operate a vehicle without a valid driver's license. OLeary said once an officer discovers someone does not have a valid license, its incumbent upon police to enforce the law.

Still, a 2016 policy issued to the police department reminds officers to take into consideration whether there are other people in the car who could drive the car or a prior history before calling a tow truck to pick up the car or arresting an individual who doesnt have a license.

The policy came out of conversations within the department after some officers expressed concern about whether it was necessary to tow the car away in every instance of such a violation. Officers felt it could be an undue hardship on people who might not be able to afford the cost, he said.

The arrest reports of the nine people cited for driving without a license each indicate a police officer pulled them over for traffic violations, including texting while driving, illegal left turns, failing to stop at a traffic light, failing to stop at a stop sign, speeding 15 miles over. Most individuals appeared to admit right away they had never had a license. And all had previous interactions with the police, be it previous arrests or other traffic-related infractions.

If the Brookline Police let one of these people off the hook and they drove off and got into an accident, that is a dereliction of the polices duty to keep people safe, said the chief.

Of the nine individuals arrested only for driving without ever having had a license, eight of them were Hispanic and at least three told police they were not born in the US.

But its not like the police have it out for immigrants, said the chief.

For example

Consider the practice of giving tickets out for leaf blower violations. Last year, the police worked with owners of landscaping companies and various committees in town on the problem of what to do about noise violations there.

Police voiced concerns about handing out tickets to people working for landscaping companies, many of whom might be immigrants.

Why would we issue a ticket to a guy who is probably not even making that much money? said the chief of the $100 fine.

The town and the committee tasked with looking into the towns noise bylaws around this looked into the possibility of ticketing the owner of the property.

Brookline Police has begun tracking interactions with ICE agents, noting when they receive requests from the federal agency. This is a new practice. The police chief said Brookline Police have gotten alerts from ICE six times in recent years requesting they hold individuals for them. But ICE did not show up to take any of those individuals into their custody. The chief announced his department will not honor ICE requests going forward, ahead of any official word from the Board of Selectmen.

Anthony Naro, a lawyer and member of the Diversity, Inclusion and Community Relations Commission tasked with coming up with a recommendation for the Board of Selectmen on how to amend its police police in regard to ICE and sanctuary city status, argues that it is unconstitutional for local authorities to make civil arrests on behalf of the federal government.

"Brookline deserves progressive policies which protect the constitutional rights of everyone in our community; at the same time, we need transparent policies that can be fairly, and unambiguously, executed by officers in the field, and understood by all members of the community," he said in a recent opinion piece in the TAB.

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Do traffic violations target illegal immigrants? - Wicked Local Brookline