It seems that in 2004 illegal immigration was an issue with the mayor.  Then it seems is was "his job":
 
Homeland security sought in Hoover Petelos aims to team with state, U.S.  
 
December 6, 2004  
Section: NEWS  
Page: 1-A  
   DAWN KENT News staff writer  
Hoover Mayor Tony Petelos wants to establish a Department of Homeland Security and Immigration within the city to improve communication on the issues with state and federal authorities.  
 
At tonight's meeting, the Hoover City Council will consider requests to create the position of department director and to authorize the mayor to hire someone for the job.
 
Petelos will not say who the leading candidates are, but he expects to make an announcement Tuesday.
 
Officials with the Alabama Department of Homeland Security say they are not aware of any other city in the state that has established such a department.
 
''We are encouraged when we see cities and counties working individually to build teams on their own,'' said Tracey Ayres, the state group's communications director.
 
The Hoover Police Department is a participant in the North Alabama Joint Terrorism Task Force, an FBI-sponsored panel made up of representatives from federal, state and local agencies throughout the Northern District of Alabama, a state judicial district.
 
The group's mission is to prevent terrorist acts and address potential threats.
 
Petelos, who has met with members of Alabama's congressional delegation about his proposal, said extensive changes in federal immigration law are expected next year, and he wants Hoover to be at the forefront of implementing the new rules.
 
During the recent municipal election campaigns, then-candidate Petelos pushed for Hoover to partner with Pelham, Helena and other cities to fund a federal Immigration and Naturalization Service officer to work the area.
 
A key campaign issue revolved around the city's efforts to combat problems and complaints associated with Hispanics who may be in the country illegally. In Hoover, Hispanic day laborers often gather along Lorna Road near Municipal Drive and the Interstate 459 overpass.
 
Petelos said his proposal to create a city department of Homeland Security and Immigration does not replace the plan he pushed in the campaign.
 
''We'll wait and see what Congress does with the new immigration laws, and at that time, I will go to Congress and see if we can get someone here,'' he said.
 
Job duties of the department director include seeking funding for local homeland security needs and implementing the changes expected in federal immigration law. The person would also stay in contact with
 
state and federal authorities, as well as coordinate efforts with surrounding communities.
 
Petelos expects the cost of establishing the department to be about $150,000, including the salaries of the director and support personnel. He said more detailed numbers would be available in the proposed budget that he is scheduled to present to the council tonight.  

From the original article:
 
"We don't have the authority to pick somebody up just because they're illegal," (Hoover Police Department Captain) Coker said.  
 
Main Entry: 1il·le·gal  
Pronunciation: \(ˌ)i(l)-ˈlē-gəl\  
Function: adjective  
Etymology: Middle French or Medieval Latin; Middle French illegal, from Medieval Latin illegalis, from Latin in- + legalis legal  
Date: 1538  
: not according to or authorized by law : unlawful, illicit; also : not sanctioned by official rules (as of a game)
 
Main Entry: police  
Function: noun  
Inflected Form(s): plural police  
Usage: often attributive  
Etymology: French, from Old French, from Late Latin politia government, administration, from Greek politeia, from politēs citizen, from polis city, state; akin to Sanskrit pur rampart, Lithuanian pilis castle  
Date: 1716  
1 a: the internal organization or regulation of a political unit through exercise of governmental powers especially with respect to general comfort, health, morals, safety, or prosperity b: control and regulation of affairs affecting the general order and welfare of any unit or area c: the system of laws for effecting such control
2 a: the department of government concerned primarily with maintenance of public order, safety, and health and enforcement of laws and possessing executive, judicial, and legislative powers b: the department of government charged with prevention, detection, and prosecution of public nuisances and crimes
 
Police will notify federal authorities if they determine that someone arrested for a crime is in the country illegally, Coker said.  
 
But some Hispanics thought they were being singled out. In federal lawsuits filed in 2005 and 2006, several Hispanics claimed Hoover police violated their civil rights with illegal searches and other practices they said were part of an effort to force them to leave the city.
 
Here's an article from May 30, 2007:
 
Growing city means constant challenges for Hoover police Department hopes aggressive approach will keep bad guys at bay  
 
May 30, 2007  
Section: COMMUNITY NEWS  
Edition: HOOVER  
Page: 1-H  
   ROGER BATSON JR. News staff writer  
 
 
HOOVER AT 40 Fifth in a series examining how Hoover has changed over its 40-year existence
 
There are few people in the metro area who consider Hoover a sleepy, little town south of Birmingham anymore, Hoover police Chief Nick Derzis said.
 
The city's growth, coupled with its financial success as a major shopping and entertainment center, has resulted in prosperity but also brought challenges in terms of crime and safety.
 
''When I first started, this was certainly a bedroom community,'' said Derzis, who joined the department in 1979 and is now the city's fourth police chief. ''There was very little retail, and there weren't a lot of reasons why people would leave other cities to come here.''
 
Then the Galleria opened in 1986, and other attractions and shopping centers began to pop up.
 
''It became a retail hub that drew in people from all over the state,'' Derzis said. ''And if you are a bad guy wanting to commit a crime, well, we became an attraction for that as well.''
 
Almost immediately after the Galleria opened, Derzis said, the city saw a significant increase in reports of bad checks and other financial crimes. The department soon after met with retailers and implemented a policy that if someone writes a bad check and a warrant is issued by the retailer, the Hoover Police Department will travel to any point in the state to arrest them.
 
Since the policy has been implemented, Derzis said, officers have traveled to cities as far away as Huntsville, Mobile, Foley and Daphne and made hundreds of arrests.
 
''We realized early that if we didn't do something and get the word out, we would be sitting ducks,'' he said.
 
The department was a oneman operation when it was founded in 1967, operating out of Hoover's Fire Station No. 1.
 
It now has 155 full-time police officers patrolling the sprawling city limits in ethanol-fueled Chevrolet Tahoes.
 
The department now has three separate bureaus: field operations, administrative services and investigative services, and more than a dozen sub-units ranging from interstate criminal enforcement investigators to family services and juvenile crime officers.
 
The department has needed the growing manpower and resources because crime has increased over the years.
 
Thefts have jumped from 1,476 in 2000 to 2,028 in 2006, and robberies have increased from 65 to 101 in the same period. The number of burglaries grew from 238 to 341.
 
Homicides, however, have stayed at about two a year for most years since 2000.
 
'Aggressive' department
 
Derzis said the city's relatively low crime rate hasn't been by chance. The department has worked overtime to create an image hostile to criminals.
 
''We work aggressively when we stop vehicles. We work aggressively when we respond to crime, and I think we have a reputation as an aggressive police department,'' Derzis said. ''And I hope that because of our reputation, that some people would avoid us.''
 
Hoover police Lt. Randall Shields said a large proportion of Hoover's police calls come from apartment complexes. Still, Derzis said, there is no one area of the city that is particularly troubled.
 
''We have some situations that may spring up here and there in the city, but we're not like a major metropolitan area that may have one particular area that's really a hot spot, that we tell people not to go to,'' Derzis said.
 
Residents and business owners in Bluff Park this past year expressed concern about crime in their community, which they said was becoming more prevalent.
 
A daytime robbery at the Piggy Wiggly grocery store at Shades Mountain Plaza in August prompted calls for a greater police presence.
 
The Police Department responded by setting up a substation in a donated retail space at Bluff Park Village.
 
Frank Baker, co-owner of Baker's Famous Pizza, which was robbed in January 2006, said the situation in Bluff Park has improved significantly since the substation opened.
 
''It's a deterrent,'' Baker said. ''The more police you see, the more criminals realize they might get caught if they do something.''
 
Helen Roberts, a clerk at Mountain Plaza Cleaners in Shades Mountain Plaza, which was burglarized three weeks agosaid police do a good job, but Hoover's a big area to cover. ''They can't be everywhere,'' she said.
 
Police 'very helpful'
 
The Police Department has enlisted the help of everyday citizens, working to help neighborhoods establish community watch programs.
 
Dennis Cole, president of the Greystone Glen Homeowners Association, said his group is working to start one now.
 
''The city's police have been very helpful,'' said Cole, who moved to Hoover from Birmingham 10 years ago. ''They've been very responsive to the needs of the community and helped us on traffic, community watch or any issue that's come up.''
 
One unexpected issue the Police Department has been dealing with more in recent years is the growing Spanish-speaking immigrant population, Derzis said. The biggest problem, initially, was trying to communicate, he said.
 
The department now has 10 to 15 officers who speak the language at fluent levels, and even more who have taken Spanish lessons offered by the department to improve their level of communication, he said.
 
Spanish language skills are one of the many things the department looks for in new recruits, Derzis said.
 
''The challenge is when we get telephone calls from the community, and you hear people say, 'Well, if you know that someone is illegal, why don't you do something about it?,''' Derzis said.
 
''Well, for one thing, you may say that they are illegal and you may think that they are illegal when they may not be, and it's something that the police don't ask.''
 
The Police Department has made efforts to make Hispanics, who often are crime victims, more comfortable with filing police reports, he said.
 
Catching up with growth
 
The department's greatest challenge, he said, is still the city's growth. ''A lot of times we are having to play catch-up,'' Derzis said.
 
To keep from falling behind, the department continues to add to its police force and communicates regularly with city leaders to make sure it has enough resources to respond to residents' concerns.
 
''The challenge to us is to keep our community safe for people to live here and keep it safe for people who visit or shop here,'' Derzis said. ''And that's a challenge every day.''

One last (I think) thing:
 
Take a look at the Mission Statement for the Hoover Department of Homeland Security:
 
http://www.hooveral.org/Default.asp?ID=922&pg=Homeland+Security
 
Very fitting.