The Winslow City Council approved an amendment to a city ordinance last week requiring citizens to provide proof of identification.
In the motion, Winslow Police Chief Dan Brown wrote, “The approval of this would make it a class three misdemeanor for a person to refuse to provide identification or evidence of identity upon request of a peace officer who has lawfully detained said person.”
When asked for clarity by Councilwoman Samantha Crisp, Brown explained, “The current state statute requiring identification really only applies to a person driving a vehicle. Identification in Arizona is not required unless there is a city ordinance. What this enables officers to do, in a legitimate criminal justice matter, is obtain identification.
“This does not grant permission for ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) to come in nor does it target a specific group of people. Basically, anyone who is contacted in a police matter will be required to show identification. We contact a lot of people who give us false information. Sometimes, we are booking them in under different names, or no name at all.”
City Attorney Trish Struhan added, “I want to clarify some misunderstanding about identification ordinances. State law has some gaps in it. In short, we want identification or evidence of identity, like a name or birthdate. Most importantly, we need you to know that police cannot just stop you and demand your identification. You have to be lawfully detained based on reasonable suspicion. This is a tool for enforcement when there is already reasonable suspicion to make sure we are getting accurate information.”
Winslow resident Maree McHugh spoke up from the audience before a motion for adoption was made by the council. She said, “I am a member of the Winslow Police Department’s Citizen Liaison Committee. I do want the members of the city council to be aware of the potential problem with a certain population of our community who will be stopped because there is reasonable suspicion.
“There is a population that suffer from drug and alcohol addiction and mental illness. This is a group of people who may not have identification or feel comfortable giving their name and date of birth. We need to consider how we can advocate for this sector of the population, so we are not targeting them. How are we going to help them get identification or understand the importance of having identification?”
The council offered no further discussion. In the absence of council members Marshall Losey and Rickey Jackson, the ordinance was adopted unanimously.
