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February 13, 2008

Whitfield deputies train to ID illegal aliens

By Kim Sloan

Six Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office deputies have completed the first step toward being able to access a federal program that helps to identify illegal aliens when suspects are booked into jail.

The deputies completed a four-week training course earlier this month in Gainesville.

The sheriff’s office is now waiting to receive equipment that will allow the deputies to take advantage of a database from the federal Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE), said Maj. John Gibson with the sheriff’s office. Deputies using the database will be alerted if a suspect being booked into jail is believed to be in the country illegally.

Currently, an individual may be out of jail on bond or have served his or her sentence before it is determined whether he or she is in the country illegally.

Under the new system, when a suspect is booked into jail his or her information — such as name, date of birth and Social Security number — will be run through the ICE database. If the ICE information indicates the suspect is in the country illegally, the suspect will be booked into the ICE system and a hold on the individual will be placed.

The deputies will be doing on the job training in Cobb County in the next few weeks for three to four days at a time, Gibson said. Cobb County was the first law enforcement agency in Georgia to participate in the program, he said.

According to ICE, 34 agencies across the nation currently participate in the program, which is funded by the federal government.

The six Whitfield detention officers who received the training are Lt. Wes Lynch, Sgt. David Duzan, Carrie Benson, Abigail Chiesa, Maria Pack and Brandon Pelfrey.

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