Fontana police chief warns of misidentifying local law enforcement with ICE agents
The chief of the Fontana Police Department said officer safety is at risk as department officers are being confused for ICE or federal agents involved in immigration enforcement, mostly as misinformation spreads through social media, he said.
Chief Michael Dorsey said at a Thursday news conference that these misunderstandings have led to people disrupting active police duties unrelated to ICE immigration operations.
"As your chief of police, let me be clear, the Fontana Police Department is committed to protecting and serving all members of our community," Dorsey said. "Our mission is to ensure the safety and well-being of everyone who lives, works, or visits our city."
The chief gave recent examples of misinformation and misidentification. He said three uniformed police officers working a burglary and trespassing investigation were said on social media to be "knocking door-to-door, asking for immigration paperwork and citizenship, and that just simply isn't true," Dorsey said.
He also said there have been undercover officers working criminal investigations that have been surrounded by community members who think they are conducting immigration enforcement.
"They are trying to often times arrest criminal violators, nothing to do with immigration enforcement, and they are being surrounded. Their focus is being drawn away from their task at hand and it's creating officer safety issues," Dorsey said.
The chief also wanted to allay fears in contacting local police, noting the California Values Act, which states, "California law enforcement agencies shall not use agency or department moneys or personnel to investigate, interrogate, detain, detect, or arrest persons for immigration enforcement purposes."
"We believe that no one should fear contacting the police to report a crime, seek help, or cooperate in an investigation because of their immigration status," Dorsey said.
The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department also sent out a similar community message on X, stating "all white vehicles are NOT ICE."
The department clarified that they have a fleet of unmarked vehicles in all colors, makes and models, "none of which include immigration enforcement."
"We have had two incidents of our sheriff's department personnel targeted while driving our unmarked units and in one case they were run off the road," the department wrote on X.
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