With frictions growing between the federal immigration enforcement officers and the communities of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) has released new instructions to its officers when they respond to activity by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The new direction by the department follows a wave of citizen complaints of what they considered to be attempted kidnappings by persons in plain clothes in unmarked cars who refused to show credentials.
An internal notice to officers issued by LAPD as of today, provided to NBC News by sources in law enforcement, directs that officers should no longer assume federal agents are telling the truth and that they may now be told to keep the peace, confirm the identity of those purporting to serve the feds, record the interactions on body-worn cameras and report kidnapping or false imprisonment in case the agents cannot present proper credentials.
On a recent Board of Police Commissioners meeting, LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell has admitted that the present environment is not normal at all.
According to McDonnell, they are unprecedented times he is facing out there. People have been worried about blue on blue contacts, whether these individuals who are apprehending are actual law enforcers.
The department stated that the guideline is not intended to be an interference in the federal efforts towards enforcement, the objective of the guideline is to de-escalate the tensions, save lives, and address the community concern about aggressive and anonymous arrests.
In several recent incidents, citizens have called 911 reporting perceived kidnappings. The events were commonly characterized by masked groups pulling people into vehicles without claiming to be police officers a setting that is sure to cause fear and panic.
An Uneasy Coexistence With Local and Federal Power
The LAPD policy stresses impartiality: law enforcement agents are not supposed to engage in immigration arrests; instead, they have to resort to crowd control, de-escalation, and safety.
They also must now reach out to field supervisors, senior command, and the immigration liaison assigned to the department. In cases where the representatives of the law enforcement pretending to be ICE officers cannot provide any identification, the LAPD officers are to record all the events with the help of body-worn cameras and think of providing reports of possible crimes.
Chief McDonnell said that in case one does not feel certain that individuals one is dealing with are indeed representing the federal government, call 911.
These are indicators that residents and city leaders are developing a sense of anxiety on the way aggressive immigration enforcement is being implemented and how it is at variance to the long-standing tradition of Los Angeles as a sanctuary city.
City Council Seeks to Go Even Farther with ICE
On June 10, tensions between the LAPD and the Los Angeles City Council also erupted as several councilmembers blamed the LAPD on appearing on ICE arrest scenes, even to control the crowd only.
Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson said, referring to ICE agents, that those people are not our partners. What they wear is badges I do not care, and whose orders they follow.
Councilwoman Imelda Padilla even suggested to Chief McDonnell during one of the heated conversations that he should inform the city leaders before ICE raids on communities so they are aware of them ahead of time, to which McDonnell simply replied no.
McDonnell told Padilla, That would be obstruction of justice. You might like to discuss that with the city attorney.
ICE refused entrance to Dodger stadium
The growing war between local and federal law enforcement was in full view June 19, when ICE agents were denied entrance into Dodger Stadium after demanding to enter the parking lots of the Major League Baseball club.
The Los Angeles Dodgers said in a statement that the agents requested access but had been turned away. Although ICE has not made a response to the incident, it has become representative of the growing opposition to immigration crackdowns in Southern California.
Legal Contests in Progress
The Trump administration has also aimed its legal fire on the changing stand of the LAPD. Federal lawyers have also filed suit against Los Angeles on Monday, saying its sanctuary city policies barring its employees and law enforcement officers to aid ICE amounts to obstruction of federal law.
According to legal analysts, the case might be of national relevance given that more cities are adopting the same stand.
Constitutional Law Professor Linda Chavez at UCLA said, this lawsuit is all about trying to push the boundaries of federal authority over local policing. And behind it is an even deeper question: What does it mean to make a city safe?
On the Edge of a City
To most of the residents, the boundary between the law and fear has never been as thin.
Without being told who took a guy off the street in a ski mask, how are we to know they are not just criminals asked Ricardo Alvarez, a Boyle Heights resident who was present at an ICE raid recently. “It’s terrifying.”
Although the new regulations adopted by the LAPD might not please all the parties to the debate, they could be seen as an endeavour to walk the thin line between federal collaboration and local credibility, which is getting weaker as the crackdown on immigrants is gaining ground.
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