LAPD officials expect crowd of up to 100,000 at immigration march on Saturday

The Los Angeles Police are preparing for as many as 100,000 marchers to rally for immigration rights in downtown Los Angeles during the annual May Day event Saturday.

LAPD officials are preparing for a surge in the number of participants in the wake of an outcry over a controversial new Arizona law that requires police to check the legal status of people they suspect of being illegal immigrants.

Deputy Chief Jose Perez Jr. said that police initially estimated no more than 60,000 people would participate in the May Day march to Los Angeles City Hall. But Perez said those numbers were revised after organized labor and immigrant rights groups informed authorities they expect far more people.

“We are looking for an orderly crowd," Perez said. "Organizers are also looking for an orderly crowd for this to be a success.”

Marchers are permitted to walk north on Broadway from Olympic Boulevard and eventually gather at City Hall. In addition to the downtown march, police are preparing for small gatherings in MacArthur Park and Westwood.

Perez said the department does not provide details about the number of officers it would have on hand, but said it would be a citywide maximum deployment.

The LAPD wants to avoid any repeat of the May Day 2007 melee in MacArthur Park. That year a contingent of the department’s elite Metro Division officers were videotaped wielding batons and shooting less-than-lethal rubberized bullets in an attempt to disperse the mostly peaceful crowd after a small group of agitators confronted police.

Dozens of protesters and journalists were injured as officers cleared the park. In the aftermath, the department issued a scathing report and the city settled litigation for more than $13 million.

Planning for this year’s march has been in the works for months, police said. With a tight budget the department had to insure that a massive number of officers were available to work the May 1 rally.
In this year’s planning, march organizers and other groups have expressed concern about how the LAPD will approach the marchers, who would include illegal immigrants.

Police, however, have assured marchers that the department will continue to be guided by Special 40, which prohibits officers from initiating action against people solely to discover their legal status. “It shows the fear and emotion behind this [the Arizona law], Perez said.

First established three decades ago by then-Police Chief Daryl F. Gates, the order has been embraced by Chief Charlie Beck, who calls the rule an important key to build trust and relationships with immigrant communities.

-- Richard Winton and Andrew Blankstein

Comments

[cesar]

Kim, who is fighting for the human rights of Arizona's legal residents and citizens? Certainly not the federal government! Stop the political correctness!!! ICE get out there and catch as many as you can!

[Q. Macphail]

KIM - "I find the two previous commenters offensive and ignorant - illegal immigrants are not the only ones that care about this issue and feel the need to fight for human rights!"

we all have human rights, Kim -

and we all must respect the law, and not cheat our way through life, thinking that we deserve special treatment because of our linguistic or ethnic status:

do you find that concept too difficult to grasp?

[Duped Tax Payer]

ICE hands are tied and therefore don't expect to see any action. What is point of reform when the government prevents them from doing their job?

[Maria]

Send the bill to the mayor. Let him pay it out of his own money.

[Sandra]

Wow, amazing how many people can keep up with current events, be able to read and still be as ignorant as Nag, Fleiter, Nikki, etc... however, with names like that, no one should be surprised.
The City is named LOS ANGELES not The Angels.

[DavidAdner]

Only in America

[Skylar]

You're correct Kim. We should make them all US citizens. All they have to do is fill out the proper paperwork and we will make them citizens. Until then, they are criminals and are breaking the law. The only right they have is the right to be arrested and deported.

[john]

this would be a perfect time to round them all up and put them on a ship to iraq or afghanistan. that way they simply cant just jump the border again in 2 days.

[Jim]

Kim said I find the two previous commenters offensive and ignorant - illegal immigrants are not the only ones that care about this issue and feel the need to fight for human rights! Kim, what himan rights are you talking about? It's not a RIGHT to be in the United States. They are here illegal, do you know what means? It's also illegal to rob a bank, or a gas station, or steal from a department store... our would you also say that's a human right?

[Rick P. Calabasas]

Police should round up all illegal aliens and send them to their home country. Put heavy fines on scafflow employers who hire illegals instead of legal citizens.

[diaper rash]

Yes, lets round up and deport all undocumented residents.
Let's place a special emphasis on the huge number of undocumented working
in day care, nursing care, and convalescent care.
Send them all back.
We will also be sending your disabled, elderly and infirm parents and grandparents back to live with you in your loft, condo, house, apt. or
whatever and you will be bathing and feeding them.
Every day of the week. every week of the year. until they die.
or until they get younger.
If you were making reservations for a summer vacation, might as well cancel them.
Actually, if you were making dinner plans for this weekend - forget it!

[LegalMexican]

hahaha this is soooo funny, everyone commenting on here wants "them" to go back to mexico, without all these illegals here who is going to do all the dirty jobs that your precious whiteboys refuse to do? they rather stand on a freeway exit asking for free money, one thing about illegal mexicans that is a FACT, most of them are HARD workers, so good luck getting good ol "kyle smith" from the freeway exit to go do the hard work that mexicans do every day so you can feed your fat white faces and your overweight wives and kids. some people just refuse to use their brains.

[dum]

If this law in az is upheld there will be a mass exudes of all the ill gels from az to ca

[Linda H.]

wow my goodness! All of those illegals are going to protest in Los Angeles...what a laugh, except it's NOT funny. California you are a major part of the problem...you NEED to stop illegals from coming into our Coutry not protect them,feed them, give them our tax dollars. Get a grip and grow some balls like Arizona!!

[pat]

the american indians should have organized ICE then and booted out the british illegal immigrants. sadly, the british invaders were legalized--by force of arms. now they're called the founding fathers. and the native americans? oh well, theyre enjoying their desert casinos. this is the basic history of immigration in america, people.

[Noneofyourbusiness]

Okay so I can see that everybody is wanting the ICE to go and make arrests and send Immigrants back to Mexico, well first 0f all Why do they say The US is a free country when really nobody is Free, every single person has no Liberty what so ever and I dont see why Immigrants cant live a "free" life over here just as everyone else. Oh yeah one other thing, if your American why dont you kick yourself out, your an Immigrant too.

[Monica]

I find your ignorant comment offensive.

I'm all for human rights too - do you not remember 9/11? Do you not want our country to be safe? How safe can we be when we have an open corrider for NOT ONLY Mexican immigrants to pass ILLEGALLY, but other nationalities as well???? Hmmm??? How do you propose we curb the violence @ the border towns in Arizona, NM & TX?

Oh wait, you probably didn't think that far ahead. The Arizona legislation is a statement to the Federal Government to take action. Phoenix is #1 IN THE WORLD for Kidnappings. Guess who's #1??? MEXICO CITY!!!

Do you not understand that the cartels are at WAR with the Mexican Government & Citizens? Our leaders in the White House need to pull their head out and start sending our military to the border to secure it, period.

Arizona has been asking for DECADES for the feds to do something about the border issue, and they have been ignored. Kudos to Governor Brewer for having the guts to make a statement to the Feds.

If you're so interested in Human Rights why don't you go ask the president why he feels that Congress doesn't have the "appetite" to deal with immigration legislation???? Hmmm????? Oh wait, that's right, because he's too busy trying to push his idealogues on everyone else.

[Kayo]

It's a shame all of law enforcement resources will be wasted at this march while some legal, law-abiding citizen is murdered somewhere else in Los Angeles by an undocumented alien. This country is backwards at all levels.

[Debi]

Let's simplify this people:
If you get caught in a movie theater without a ticket because you snuck in, should you be removed or allowed to stay in with everyone else that is there because they paid and had permission?

[Mean Mom]

I won't even go into the financial burden on this rant.
@Kim, Human Rights? How about our rights & responsibilities as Americans? Should we ignore laws against burglary and theft? What about destruction of private property or drunk driving? How about fraud , drug trafficking, murder & rape? I'd also look into child neglect & abandonment, housing overcrowding, squatting, arson, spreading highly contagious disease w/o regard for others, prostitution, etc? Imagine how safe you'd feel if those laws were not enforced.
Now think about this. The people in AZ & southern CA & TX have been forced to live with more of the crimes listed above because illegals and all the 'commerce' that comes them hasn't been accountable to our laws.
In your fight for human rights, don't forget about your own. The same people you want to protect have their hands in your wallet, their eyes on what's under your clothes, their plans to take whatever you have that they want for themselves, their kids taking the teacher's attention away from your kids.
Feel for their predicament, fine...as a matter of fact, we ALL understand why they are here... but it doesn't make it right. Enabling bad behavior encourages more bad behavior. Pushing the limits isn't just for kids, it's human nature.
We gotta grow up and draw the line somewhere.

[youfail]

Atrayu - what part of ILLEGAL don't you get? this has NOTHING to do with abuses from officials it has to do with people ignoring the rules, coming into the country and not paying for it.

[Carol]

Maybe 100,000 legal residents and citizens will show up to fight for civil treatment of all humans.

Why do certain posters think that all 100,000 protesters will be undocumented?

[Jose]

Kim...you wanna "fight for human rights" TRY starting with MEXICO'S vicious illegal alien policy.

[Charles Phillips]

That's funny! When did Los Angeles become a city in Arizona?

LAPD is missing a great opportunity to round up a big batch of illegals.

[Joe]

Call it what it is and quit lying to America. It's an ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION march.