Human smuggling makes Phoenix kidnapping capital of U.S.

Phoenix has become the kidnapping capital of the United States, because of illegal immigration and human smuggling, according to the head of the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association.

In the past year, there were 359 kidnappings in Phoenix, and not one was legitimate involving a truly innocent victim, said Mark Spencer, head of the union which represents more than 2,500 Phoenix police officers. He said all the kidnappings were connected to illegal immigration and the numbers may represent just the tip of the iceberg.

``The investigators up at the violent crimes bureau are estimating that this 359 represents just one-third of the reported kidnappings that take place in Phoenix," Spencer said.

The resources needed to handle such cases are immense, Spencer said. He said the violent crimes bureau has exceeded its overtime budget by as much as 300 percent in the past year dealing with illegal immigration.

A money drop on just one case can tie up 50 to 60 officers, Spencer said, ``to make sure that it's conducted safely, not only for the officers, but for the victims as well."

Meanwhile, Spencer said the first month of the Phoenix Police Department's new policy to deal with illegal immigration is showing results.

On May 21, officers were given the authority to question criminal suspects about their citizenship status and contact federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents if they suspect a suspect is in the United States illegally.

Since then, Spencer said, ``Stolen vehicles have gone down 29 percent. That's a double-digit increase. Another thing that's gone down, which is quite unusual, our priority one or emergency calls for service, have decreased 10 percent."

``We're connecting this decrease with the implementation of the immigration policies and the (employer sanctions) legislation that took effect in January," he said. ``So we think it is having a deterrent effect. Now, you add our new and improved policy which allows our officers to contact ICE..."

He added, ``We were confident all along that, allowing officers the discretionary ability to contact ICE wasn't going to interfere with our police responsibilities, all it was going to do was enhance them."

Spencer said he expects crimes to drop even more.

``I think you'll see the crime stats improve in favor of the citizens of Phoenix."