WASHINGTON (7News) — The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) responded Saturday to a request from councilmembers concerning immigration enforcement coordination amid the federal surge and allegations that the department manipulated crime data.
The response came one day after the council’s deadline and did not include the requested arrest numbers from joint patrols.
In the letter, Interim Chief Jeffery Carroll states MPD is not working with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, but that “many of the federal agencies MPD is working with during this period of enhanced federal partnership, and with which MPD has long-established relationships, now have authority to conduct civil immigration enforcement.”
“When MPD officers go out with these agencies, our goal is to address crime and community concerns, not to enforce civil immigration. However, federal agents can and do exercise their own enforcement authority,” the letter continues.
Friday was the deadline for the Metropolitan Police Department to respond to a request from councilmembers about immigration coordination amid the federal surge and allegations that the department manipulated crime data.
This letter was released on Saturday.
Click here to view the PDF file
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Councilmember Pinto’s office released this statement regarding the response from Chief Jeffery Carroll.
Today, my office received correspondence from the Metropolitan Police Department regarding the letter I led last month that was signed by every member of the DC Council, asking for clarity on MPD’s coordination with federal law enforcement and its crime data collection process.While I appreciate MPD providing a response to our letter about the general state of affairs with federal entities and their ongoing deeper review regarding crime statistics, their response does not provide the detailed information our letter requested and many questions remain unanswered. The Council and the public need answers to these questions to better understand how the last several months have been handled with increased federal presence in our city and to inform where we go from here to ensure the safety of all residents and visitors.I look forward to continuing to work with MPD to get these questions addressed and we will do so during the upcoming performance oversight process and hearing we are holding in several weeks — the Committee, the Council, and the public deserve clarity on these important questions.
In a Dec. 18 letter sent by Judiciary and Public Safety Committee Chairwoman Brooke Pinto and signed by every councilmember, the council demanded details on (1) the extent of coordination between MPD and federal law enforcement during the federal surge and coordination under the D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force, which was created by a March presidential executive order last year, and (2) allegations that MPD manipulated crime data.
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In the letter, Pinto states her committee “has received numerous concerns regarding the federal surge and ongoing coordination between MPD and federal law enforcement agencies, especially regarding immigration enforcement.”
“MPD’s formal response will help provide clarity to the Committee and the public, ensure accountability, and bolster public trust,” Pinto stated in the letter.
Pinto held a hearing last month on several bills and on public safety in the District in general, where more than 130 witnesses signed up to testify. “A primary concern raised was alleged coordination between MPD and federal immigration authorities,” the letter states, and while public safety officials, excluding the chief, provided testimony at the hearing, “questions remain.”
Among other things, councilmembers were requesting:
Weekly breakdowns from the start of the federal surge on Aug. 11 to Dec. 14 of federal agencies participating in joint patrols with MPDThe weekly number of arrests, disaggregated by offense category, made by MPD officers participating in those joint patrolsThe weekly number of arrests for civil immigration violations made by federal agents during joint patrolsWhether MPD officers are provided or instructed to request the names, agencies, and badge information for federal agents participating in joint patrolsWhether Former Chief Pamela Smith’s Aug. 14 executive order on immigration enforcement cooperation is still in effect, and how many times MPD officers have shared information about persons not in their custody (such as during traffic stops) pursuant to that executive orderHow MPD tracks data on offenses not included in the Citywide Year-To-Date Crime Comparison,s and how that data is used to make strategic decisionsThe timing and frequency with which MPD officers are trained to classify crimes