WARWICK — The Rhode Island Police Chiefs Association this week endorsed one section of Governor Carcieri’s controversial executive order addressing illegal immigration in Rhode Island, according to Warwick Police Chief Stephen McCartney.

McCartney, who is president of the association, said “an overwhelming majority” of the police chiefs attending a private meeting Thursday voted to endorse a section of Carcieri’s executive order that asks local police to check the immigration status of people who are being detained or investigated for a crime.

McCartney declined to disclose the vote and noted that it is not binding, but is intended to make a statement of the opinion of the majority.

“As president of the association, my job is to carry out the will of the association,” McCartney said, adding that the vote came after a “healthy discussion.”

At the end of last month, Carcieri signed an executive order that, in part, requires state agencies and vendors to verify the legal status of all employees. It directs the Rhode Island State Police and Department of Corrections to work with federal officials in enforcing immigration laws.

The final section of the order is aimed at municipal police departments and is a request, not a mandate. It says all police departments are “urged” to determine the immigration status of people taken into custody or under investigation for a crime.

Carcieri’s executive order has polarized various sectors of the public, and some law-enforcement officials, including Providence Police Chief Dean Esserman, have been outspoken in their opposition. Last week, Esserman said local police should not have the responsibility of investigating the immigration status of people arrested or suspected of crimes.

McCartney said Esserman attended the meeting of the police chiefs association. Esserman was not available for comment yesterday.

McCartney said the police chiefs in the association bring a variety of views to immigration and other issues because the municipalities they are responsible for range from urban to rural. He said the chiefs association was restricting its stand to the part of Carcieri’s order that pertains to municipal police and would not publicly debate other portions of the order.

Some people opposed to Carcieri’s action say they fear it will increase racial profiling and other forms of prejudice. McCartney said that he does not think that will be the case relating to the governor’s request for cooperation from municipal police.

Almost all police departments in the state have been working hard to eliminate racial or ethnic profiling, McCartney said, and while there’s still more to be done, he does not think that cooperating with the governor’s request will stand in the way of further progress.

“It’s still a challenge,” McCartney said, “but the Rhode Island law-enforcement community has done an awful lot of work in that area.

“We do not want people in the immigrant community to be afraid to report a crime.”

bpoliche@projo.com