LAPD Chief: Cops Shouldn't Tag Immigrants

Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton says his department must stay out of the business of collaring illegal immigrants.

In an article in Tuesday's Los Angeles Times, Bratton says the LAPD should continue a three-decade-old policy that prohibits officers from stopping someone solely to determine whether they're in the country illegally.

Bratton says it's harder for police to do their job if witnesses won't come forward because they're afraid of deportation.

Dozens of state and local police agencies around the country have joined a federal program giving officers the powers of federal immigration agents. But the chief says his replacement should focus on community outreach and not community alienation.

Bratton will step down Saturday to join a Virginia-based global security firm.