On Monday, San Francisco Supervisor Jackie Fielder sent a letter to city officials demanding answers to questions about the handling of recent protests against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and alleged police cooperation with federal agents, potentially in violation of California’s sanctuary laws.
The letter was addressed to Interim Police Chief Paul Yep, Sheriff Paul Miyamoto, Mayor Daniel Lurie and Controller Greg Wagner. Key concerns included recent confrontations with ICE; problematic recent public statements by officials with the San Francisco Police Department; potential legal violations involving SFPD sharing surveillance data with federal agencies; alleged lack of oversight during threats to public safety; and questions about how much First Amendment activities and responses are costing the city.
SFPD did not respond to requests for comment, and the mayor’s office referred questions to the Police Department.
The letter described a July 8 clash between ICE agents and protesters outside the courthouse, when ICE agents brandished a rifle at protesters and a reporter, and after seizing a detainee, sped off in a van through a group of protesters, throwing a woman from the hood. According to Fielder, SFPD said they arrived after the altercation, but video evidence shows that officers were nearby and did not intervene.
“Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell issued new guidance a few weeks ago directing officers to verify the identity of federal agents at the scene of suspected immigration enforcement actions,” Fielder’s letter said. “At the local level, we are the last line of defense against authoritarianism. SFPD and SF Sheriff’s should consider the same directive.”
Police role questioned
Fielder’s letter described problematic statements made at a Castro District town hall last Thursday by Deputy Chief Derrick Lew when asked about the role of police in crowd control during anti-ICE protests, especially when ICE agents are confronted while taking detainees.
“It doesn’t matter what our politics are,” said Lew, adding that police can’t just sit by and watch fellow law enforcement officers get hurt.
“Just like if CHP were to get into some sort of a situation out on our streets,” he said. “We would help them out of that situation. It’s a really fine line the PD (Police Department) will have to deal with when these things come about.”
Fielder’s letter drew issue with Lew’s comparison of ICE and CHP.
“ICE is not upholding the rule of law, it is helping Trump violate it,” the letter read. “It is disappearing people with no criminal history, without due process, here in San Francisco, and all over the country, and exporting them to El Salvador, South Sudan, and countries they have never lived in.”
Fielder also took issue with reports that SFPD had accessed Oakland’s license plate data on behalf of federal agencies; data acquired with an automated license plate reader system, or ALPR. Her letter asked if SFPD was aware at the time of these searches that sharing ALPR data with federal agencies was a violation of California state law.
“ICE is not upholding the rule of law, it is helping Trump violate it. It is disappearing people with no criminal history, without due process … and exporting them to El Salvador, South Sudan, and countries they have never lived in.”
Letter from Supervisor Jackie Fielder
California law, including Senate Bill 34 from 2015, does not explicitly name ICE in its text, but it does prohibit the sharing of ALPR data by public agencies with non-law enforcement entities and places clear restrictions on sharing with out-of-state or federal agencies.
APLR technology provides a tracker system that helps multiple law enforcement agencies identify vehicles associated with criminal suspects, witnesses and victims, as well as point out drug trafficking, stolen vehicles and Amber Alerts.
The technology is part of the Northern California Regional Intelligence Center. According to the center’s website, it is part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s information sharing strategy and serves as the regional “all major crimes” intelligence fusion center for the federal Northern District of California.
Breaking it down
Fielder then asked for itemized costs for resources to handle protests and surveillance of protesters.
Additional questions called for clarification on the role of local law enforcement under existing policies. They were aimed at transparency, but they might also compel local officials to reexamine law enforcement policies in the wake of increased federal funding for ICE enforcement, detention and deportation.
The questions included:
- How does SFPD decide if it will deploy officers to an ICE enforcement operation?
- Does SFPD confirm enforcement actions with ICE?
- When SFPD or SF Sheriffs are present at a verified immigration enforcement action, what is their protocol for ensuring that ICE agents are honoring people’s constitutional rights to due process?
- Has SFPD arrested any ICE agents for violence against protestors or for reckless driving that could injure protestors?
- On what grounds could SFPD or SF Sheriffs arrest federal immigration enforcement impersonators?
- What are SFPD’s policies regarding 9-1-1 calls made reporting incidents of kidnapping in broad daylight or suspected federal immigration enforcement?
“As elected officials, we took an oath of office to defend the constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic,” Fielder’s letter said. “Unfortunately, we find ourselves in a country where the constitutional enemy is now in the Oval Office and using law enforcement agencies like ICE to do his bidding.”
The letter requested responses by July 28.
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