The number of crime suspects Prince William County police officers questioned about their U.S. residency plunged in May after the county changed its nascent crackdown against illegal immigrants.

The 70 percent drop from April is expected to be short-lived, however, as more changes taking effect later this month are slated to result in 1,500 checks each month.

Officers checked just 32 people in May, a drop from 108 in April and 125 in March, the first month of the policy.

Police Chief Charlie Deane released the data about the first three months of illegal-immigration enforcement Tuesday after presenting the County Board of Supervisors with the revised policy for what he called “one of the nation’s most stringent” enforcement efforts against illegal immigration.

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Under the initial policy that county supervisors unanimously approved in October, officers were required to check the residency status of local crime suspects they had probable cause to believe were in the country illegally.

Supervisors changed the law in April to check everyone arrested, a move partly designed to reduce the county’s liability in expected racial-profiling lawsuits.

That means checking 18,100 people each year, Deane said. Because corrections officers at the jail already check legal status, police officers will check the status of the 8,500 suspects who are likely to be released by magistrate judges.

However, the new policy still allows officers to check the legal status of traffic violators and suspicious persons without enough evidence to file charges against them for a county crime.

County Chairman Corey Stewart said officers now have the power to check more people for legal status prior to arrest, but the police chief disagreed, saying officers will use the same criteria as in the first three months of the policy.

The policy change is expected to result in confusion, and Deane said he would lead another public information campaign to explain the law.

“All elements of the community need to know what we’re doing and what we’re not doing,” he said.

Crackdown critic Cesar Perales, president of the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, said the changes were not likely to prevent racial profiling.

“I have no doubt some police will think their job is to grab people and find out if they’re legal,” Perales said.

dgenz@dcexaminer.com