ICE disregard for local authorities endangers everyone

Last week, the DCI shared the experiences and concerns of local law enforcement officers over the lack of cooperation—or even communication—from federal agents who are part of Operation Metro Surge.
Thousands of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol agents who descended on Minneapolis in December are now moving into outstate Minnesota. Late last month, one of our reporters photographed men with federal badges taking a Dodge Center woman into custody.
As last week’s story noted, no local officers were present.
So why should they be? Why is this a problem at all?
Of course, cooperative relationships are more productive. Public safety always benefits when everyone works together. That’s the way it works with city, county, and state agencies, which regularly share information.
Local police officers and deputies know the folks living in their communities. Their daily patrols give them reliable information about individuals, families, and businesses. They’ve taken the calls for overdoses and domestic violence, staked out areas of suspected drug activity.
The information they can provide should be valuable to federal agents. So why don’t they care enough to ask?
Also disturbing is what this invasion is doing to the trust between law enforcement and residents, built through special events like National Night Out.
By contrast, federal ICE agents walking blind into small, cohesive communities put themselves and others at risk—because they have no clue where the hidden dangers lie. Their approach with masks and aggressive attitudes only serve to frighten, intimidate, and sow seeds of distrust.
We hope federal authorities will listen to the voices of their brothers and sisters in uniform and step up efforts to share information and work cooperatively with local law enforcement.
Or better yet, that they leave Minnesota and take their failed Operation Metro Surge with them.