L.A. law enforcement leaders walk tightrope in missives about immigration crackdown

Los Angeles Times

a day ago

While publicly chastising groups protesting immigration raids, Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell has offered support to officers in his Latino-majority department who may have mixed feelings about the Trump administration's crackdown.
In a department-wide missive sent out earlier this week as protests ramped up, McDonnell acknowledged some officers were 'facing criticism from the community or wrestling with the personal impact,' of recent events and needed support.
'When federal immigration enforcement actions take place in communities that may reflect your own heritage, neighborhoods, or even your family's story, it can create a deep and painful conflict,' he wrote. 'You may be wearing the uniform and fulfilling your duty, but inside, you're asked to hold a complex mix of emotions.'
It was an unusual display of solidarity for a chief who has rarely waded into the contentious immigration debate. McDonnell has bristled over criticism about his relationship with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement while serving as Los Angeles County Sheriff during Trump's first term.
In interviews and public comments since becoming chief McDonnell has sought to distance himself from a policy as sheriff that allowed federal immigration authorities to operate freely, targeting people for deportation in the nation's largest jail system.
Both McDonnell and current L.A. County Sheriff Robert Luna have stressed that their departments do not cooperate with federal authorities solely for immigration purposes — polices adopted long ago to help build trust within the city's diverse communities.
In his own message to his department this week, Luna thanked deputies for their 'professionalism, resolve, and unwavering dedication' — but only briefly alluded to the immigration debate.
'Despite the complexity of this situation — made even more challenging by the heightened political environment — I trust and fully expect that you will continue to demonstrate the same level of excellence, thoughtfulness, and integrity that have brought us this far,' Luna said.
Critics of local law enforcement actions in recent days note that racial bias also remains a contentious issue, with LAPD officers pulling over and shooting Latino Angelenos at a higher rate than their share of the overall population.
When asked about how he is working to keep the city's immigrant population safe, McDonnell often cites Special Order 40, the landmark policy adopted in 1979 that forbids LAPD officers from stopping people to inquire about their citizenship status.
But Trump's actions have put the chief and other local leaders in the awkward position of having to defend federal officers and property — while also trying to communicate that they are not on the side of immigration agents.
In his recent message to department employees, McDonnell said he recognized they 'may feel loyalty, frustration, fear, or sometimes even shame as the community mistakenly views you as part of something that you are not.' The public may not 'see the nuance,' of the LAPD's postion, he said, because 'simply being present can make it seem like you support an action you may not agree with, or that you're complicit in pain affecting your own community.'
Publicly, though, the chief has struck a different, sometimes defensive tone, often focusing his remarks on destruction caused by some protesters.
At a City Council hearing Tuesday, he sparred with city leaders who challenged the department's relationship with federal authorities.
In one exchange, City Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson said he disagreed with the chief on referring to agencies such as ICE as 'law enforcement partners.'
'I don't care what badge they have on or whose orders they're under. They're not our partners,' Harris-Dawson said.
Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez, who sits on the Council's public safety committee and represents an Echo Park-to-Hollywood district, said in a statement to The Times that he wasn't surprised that Latino police officers may be feeling conflicted.
'Families are being ripped apart, and I'd bet nearly every one of them has a parent or relative who's undocumented, or were even undocumented themselves at some point,' said Soto-Martinez.
Art Placencia, a retired LAPD detective, recalled being a young cop on the job in the years when cops would arrest Latinos simply because they believed that they might be in the country illegally and deliver them into federal custody.
The LAPD of today is vastly different than when he was on the job, he said. Prodded by lawsuits and consent decrees, the once-mostly white department has grown to become more than half Latino, which more or less mirrors the city's demographics. And while Latino officials are under-represented in the LAPD's upper echelons, they wield more political clout than ever, Placencia said.
Placencia, the former president of an prominent association for Latino officers that once sued the LAPD for discrimination in promotion decisions, said McDonnell is caught in a bind of having to navigate the city's left-leaning politics while also backing up his rank-and-file officers on the front lines against hostile crowds.
'He's gotta show that he's concerned about the officers and their feelings,' said Placencia. They're the ones that are out there, they're the ones that are getting rocks thrown at them.'
In past interviews, McDonnell has spoken proudly about his immigrant upbringing — both of his parents moved to Boston from Ireland a year before he was born — saying that he understands the struggle of trying to make a better life in America. But as sheriff he also came under fire by breaking ranks with many other area politicians by opposing a 'sanctuary state' bill that sought to prevent federal immigration agents from taking custody of people being released from California jails.
The selection of McDonnell last November came as a disappointment among some within the department, who had hoped Bass would Arcos, a third-generation Mexican American, had the backing of some powerful Latino civic leaders and would have been the first Latino chief of a city that is more than 50% Latino.
Ruben Lopez, a retired LAPD SWAT lieutenant, said he appreciated that McDonnell decided to address the internal moral dilemma that some officers face.
Lopez remembers wrestling with similar feelings when, as a young cop, he was on the front lines of a massive protest over Proposition 187, a controversial law that would bar undocumented immigrants from receiving public school educations and a range of other state- and county-funded benefits.
'I remember some of the command staff wanted to be more aggressive, and I felt these were just families and kids wanting to exercise their right to protest,' he said. 'Because if we don't have that trust in the community, including immigrant communities then we're not going to get that collaborative approach to police a city of this size.'
Times staff writer Connor Sheets contributed reporting.