LAPD Cancels Arizona Trip Out of Respect for City's Immigration Law Boycott

(June 18) -- The Los Angeles Police Department will not send its officers to a training session in Arizona this year out of respect, its chief says, for the city's boycott against a tough new immigration law in that state.

Four officers were supposed to attend next month's annual Airborne Law Enforcement Association conference in Tucson, but Police Chief Charlie Beck said the LAPD has canceled the trip "to respect the [city council's] boycott of Arizona," the Los Angeles Times reports.

In May, the Los Angeles City Council voted 13-1 to stop doing business with Arizona in protest of the new law, which requires police to ask residents for proof of citizenship if there is "reasonable suspicion" that they are illegal immigrants.

Jose Luis Magana, AP

Los Angeles Chief of Police Charlie Beck, seen here on May 26, has decided against sending LAPD officers to Arizona for training out of respect for the city's boycott of the state after it adopted a tough immigration law.

Nearly half of Los Angeles residents are of Hispanic descent, and city officials have been outspoken in their opposition to the Arizona legislation. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has called the law "unpatriotic and unconstitutional," and the city council has been just as vocal.

"Los Angeles is the second-largest city in this country," city councilman Ed Reyes said in May. "An immigrant city, an international city needs to have its voice heard."

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer is likely to be unfazed: Last month she said she found such boycotts "unbelievable."

"I find it really interesting that we have people out there that are attempting a boycott in favor of illegal actions in Arizona," she said. "That to me is just unbelievable."

Beck said the police department is "not a political entity" and is not taking a position on the law. But Paul Weber, president of the Police Protective League union, disagrees with the decision to cancel the trip.

"I think it's a huge mistake," he told the Los Angeles Times. "Public safety shouldn't be sacrificed just because Arizona's become a political football."