When Attorney General Mark Shurtleff heard that a Utah law enforcement officer allegedly had been gunned down by an undocumented immigrant, he sent members of his SECURE Strike Force to aid in the manhunt.

The slaying of Millard County sheriff's Deputy Josie Greathouse Fox is the first homicide investigation for the strike force, which focuses on felony crimes committed by undocumented immigrants. But in about two months since six investigators were hired and trained, they have filed 80 cases and assisted the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Bureau in the arrest of 76 people during a gang-busting operation.

"It's gone really well, and it's not just in terms of numbers of arrests and search warrants," said Ken Wallentine, chief of law enforcement for the Utah Attorney General's Office.

The strike force has investigated cases including document mills and noncertified dentists practicing out of their basements.

Many of the tips have come from people in the Latino community, both documented and undocumented.

"We've been out to many church groups and spoken with community leaders. We're not interested in the housekeeper, housemaid or the guy who shovels snow or does your landscaping. We're looking for the ones who are impacting our community through major violent and financial crimes," Wallentine said. "We don't have to go for the low-hanging fruit. We can climb the tree."

The $891,000 in federal stimulus money that allowed the strike force to hire and train its staff came on July 1 -- the same day SB81, Utah's comprehensive immigration reform law, took effect. Many undocumented immigrants looked at SB81 with fear, and initially that worry spread to the strike force.

But meeting with the community and staying true to its word that it won't prosecute undocumented immigrants who report a crime has helped the strike force assuage much of that fear.

"A lot of times, the immigration community is afraid to go to law enforcement because they're afraid that rather than getting assistance, they're going to get deported," said Sabrina Morales, executive director of Comunidades Unidas, which has worked extensively with the strike force. "But the strike force has gained a lot of respect in the community."

Her organization has arranged several forums for strike-force members to answer questions, and the group has referred crimes to the strike force.

"In our mind they're the solution, rather than having a law like SB81. The strike force is something we can all agree on is necessary and really getting at the root problem," Morales said.

The backing of the Latino community has been essential to the success of the team.

"The support we've got from the community and the cooperation we've gotten are the only things that made it work," said Leo Lucey, SECURE Strike Force commander. "We're not cross-deputized, we have no authority to remove anybody, and that's really played to our advantage. We treat undocumented immigrants as we would anybody else: If they're a victim, they're a victim. If they're a witness, they're a witness. Without them, we wouldn't have been able to do anything."

But some say earning the trust of the community has come at too high a price.

Ron Mortensen, co-founder of the Utah Coalition on Illegal Immigration, thinks the strike force is misdirected in going after only the higher-level criminals.

"If you take the petty crime off the street, then the bigger crime stops, too," Mortensen said. "If you arrest people who are using forged documentation, then the false-identity document dealers wouldn't have any clients."

He says if more local law enforcement officers were cross-deputized as immigration agents, maybe Roberto Miramontes Roman, the man charged with shooting and killing Fox, would have been caught and jailed for criminal re-entry into the U.S. after he was already deported twice.

"You can't just keep looking at document mills and the like," Mortensen said. "It's got to be all levels of crime to put a dent in criminal activity."

Eli Cawley, director of the Utah Minuteman Project, though, says he's "very pleased" with the strike force.

"What they're focusing on is exactly what they should be focusing on," Cawley said. "I'm pleased to hear they're proceeding at pace."

Tony Yapias, a community activist who focuses on the rights of undocumented immigrants, has yet to meet with leaders of the law enforcement group, but wants to do so in the near future.

He says he hopes the strike force can continue working toward getting the major criminals out of Utah. He has talked with many Latinos in the state about Fox's murder, and hopes to show the support and sympathy the undocumented community has for her family.

"When an undocumented immigrant is involved in a violent crime, it's really a black eye to our cause," Yapias said. "The idea behind this strike force is to apprehend undocumented immigrants committing crimes. They have my full support in terms of that -- that is an element we don't want in the community, as well."

The strike force has partnered with police agencies across the state, and hopes to continue building trust with Latino community members to help stop felony criminals, Lucey said.

smcfarland@sltrib.com