Law enforcement leaders propose guidelines to restore trust amid immigration operations

By Jeff Winter, CNN

(CNN) — One day after Alex Pretti was shot and killed by federal agents in Minneapolis, the world’s largest group of police chiefs urged the White House to organize a sit-down with federal, state and local law enforcement leaders to better coordinate immigration enforcement and ensure community safety.

While the White House was responsive, a swarm of other law enforcement agencies, officers’ unions and government organizations reached out to the International Association of Chiefs of Police and said they wanted to participate, IACP president David Rausch told CNN.

Leaders from nearly 20 groups – including the National League of Cities, the National District Attorneys Association and the Small and Rural Law Enforcement Executives’ Associations – met in early March to align on how to address what was happening in their jurisdictions.

“We all agreed immigration is a legit issue, and its enforcement is legit,” Rausch said. “However, the approach needed to be better coordinated and organized.”

The IACP-led gathering produced a set of “shared principles” calling for clear communication between federal and local agencies, a focused targeting of violent criminals and broader safety measures.

Those guidelines, outlined in a document released Tuesday, aim to rebuild the relationships between agencies and local communities left frayed after police departments were pulled into the vortex of public backlash in response to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations, like those seen in Minneapolis.

The publication, which highlights the growing friction between federal, state and local law enforcement officials, is polite but direct in stating concerns over how immigration enforcement operations “can affect officer safety, public trust, and the effectiveness of joint operations” in the cities where those operations are conducted.

“When we’re not working together, things can be unsafe for communities and for officers. Expectations and protocols need to be aligned, tactics need to be consistent,” Rausch said.

It’s a carefully worded statement, but also highly unusual and significant, said CNN Chief Law Enforcement and Intelligence Analyst John Miller.

“I can’t remember a time when the organization representing the nation’s police chiefs turned a critical eye on other law enforcement agencies in such a public way,” Miller said.

“It’s a real sign that police chiefs feel the administration’s no-holds-barred approach to immigration enforcement has put police departments in a difficult position in maintaining community relations that took a long time to build and have been damaged by this process.”

‘Constitutional policing and community trust’

The White House was supportive of the IACP’s new efforts, Rausch said.

Asked for a response to the IACP publication, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said in part, “Partnerships with law enforcement are critical to having the resources we need to arrest criminal illegal aliens across the country.”

“ICE has supercharged efforts with state and local law enforcement to assist federal immigration officers in our efforts to make America safe again,” the spokesperson said, adding those agreements have increased more than 1,000%.

However, assisting with ICE operations is exactly what some agencies are trying to avoid. Local departments have no authority in civil immigration enforcement, and in many cities, police are prohibited by local law from participating in it.

The public safety organizations behind the IACP’s publication said they’re committed to an ongoing effort to “restore reliable operational communication; clarify and respect roles, authorities and limitations; and ensure that enforcement tactics align with constitutional policing and community trust.”

To accomplish that, their “shared principles” focus on communication and collaboration between local and federal agencies, and officer and community safety. Police chiefs in multiple cities have criticized DHS conducting operations on their streets without prior communication with local officials, putting cops at risk.

The working group also calls for enforcement efforts to focus on violent criminals rather than civil enforcement of people simply out of status: “Broad statistic-driven operations are counterproductive and divert resources, undermine trust, and can result in the apprehension of individuals who pose no threat to public safety.”

And while no specific officials were named, the publication also called for the federal government to tone down “harmful and overly political rhetoric,” which “erodes legitimacy and reinforces perceptions that policing lacks transparency and accountability.”

New DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said during his confirmation hearing he would be a different kind of leader than his embattled predecessor Kristi Noem and aim to keep the agency out of the headlines.

Rausch is optimistic about Mullin, he told CNN, saying the IACP and its partners see him “as a fresh start and opportunity to be able to sit down to begin these conversations that, frankly, should have happened previously.”

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