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Following a court defeat, LAPD Chief Charlie Beck this weekend ended the department's Special Order 7, which told officers not to impound vehicles of unlicensed drivers who have insurance, valid ID and no other violations related to unlicensed driving.
For undocumented immigrants, Special Order 7 kept routine traffic stops for minor violations from becoming life-ruining events with fees running over $1,000. But a state court judge recently ruled that Special Order 7 violates state law.
The city of L.A. has not yet announced if it will appeal that ruling, the L.A. Times reports. But Beck is rescinding the policy for the time being, although he still supports it.
“It's not so much that I am a dove on immigration,” Beck told the Times. “It's that I'm a realist. I recognize that this is the population that I police. If I can take steps -- legal steps -- to make them a better population to police, then I will.”
However, the police department's own union, alongside national conservative legal activists, challenged Special Order 7 in court.
Tyler Izen, president of the union, said in an interview, "I always believed that what the chief was doing was not the solution to a problem that I agree needs to be addressed."
