Los Angeles: At a Media Availability Briefing at11 a.m. today at the Los Angeles Police headquarters, Chief Charlie Beck announced proposed changes to the way the Los Angeles Police Department handles Immigration and Customs Enforcement detentions of some undocumented immigrant arrests.
In the spirit of keeping with the intended purpose of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Secure Communities program (S-Comm) signed into law by the President of the United States September 30 2008, in which “ICE prioritizes the removal of criminal aliens, those who pose a threat to public safety, and repeat immigration violators,” the LAPD is proposing to no longer grant an ICE Detainer Request without first reviewing the seriousness of the offense for which the person is being held as well as their prior arrest history and gang involvement.
The Department is currently developing the list of criminal offenses which in its view do not meet the intended purpose of the S-Comm program (e.g. public nuisance and/or low-grade misdemeanor offenses).
Under the new proposal, individuals arrested for one of these low-grade misdemeanor offenses will not be subject to continued detention on the basis of an ICE Detainer Request absent additional information from ICE and/or prior felony arrest(s), or if the individual is a documented gang member. The Department will still honor detention requests on all felony and high-grade misdemeanor arrests.
Our goal is to implement the new protocols by January 1, 2013. We will be meeting with stakeholders’ representatives, and the specific protocols developed will be sent to the Board of Police Commissioners for their review and for public comments prior to implementation.
If you have any questions regard this proposed policy change, please call LAPD Media Relations Section at 213-486-5910.