Los Angeles police must turn on their body cameras at the scene of immigration enforcement and preserve the video, according to an order issued by Mayor Karen Bass on Tuesday.
Since June, federal immigration raids have disrupted neighborhoods and communities across Los Angeles and the country, including workplaces, neighborhood streets and commercial areas.
Often, the police have responded to the scene to try to maintain peace in the midst of conflicts between migrant workers and members of the public.
“The point we’re trying to make here is that the use of ICE is not acceptable here,” Bass said at a press conference Tuesday morning. “We have been against it since the beginning of this terrorism, and we will continue to do so.”
In addition to recording the actions of federal immigration agents, LAPD officials must write down the name and badge number of the agent’s supervisor, call emergency personnel if someone at the scene is injured and take reports from the public about alleged misconduct by federal agents, Bass’ five-page guidelines state.
The order also prohibits federal immigration agents from using city property and imposes a fee on property owners who allow federal agents to use private property.
The effort builds on an earlier Bass order that aimed to limit the city from assisting federal immigration agents. The LAPD has a long-standing policy that its officers should not be involved in immigration enforcement.
The Department of Public Safety did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Bass noted that officers must turn on their body cameras anyway, including when responding to a call from the public or when another law enforcement agency requests assistance.
“We really want you to do that, even if you are there and there is no chaos, if you are there at the scene,” said Bass.
The LAPD did not immediately comment. The Los Angeles Police Protective League, which represents LAPD officers, did not respond to a request for comment.
In Chicago, the mayor issued a similar order in January, ordering the Police Department to “investigate and document” illegal actions by federal agents, said Tania Unzueta, political director of Mijente, a national group that organizes among the Latino and Chicano communities.
“ICE’s power must be challenged at all levels, and local governments have an important role to play in holding the line against federal enforcement,” Unzueta said.
But in Los Angeles, immigrant rights advocates have expressed concern about requiring the LAPD to police another agency.
Maegan Ortiz, executive director of the Institute of Popular Education of Southern California, or IDEPSCA, cited the LAPD’s history of using excessive force against civilians and said that in recent immigration raids, officers have sometimes flared up rather than defused tensions.
“Are they the best people to determine what constitutes an excessive use of force, given the actual millions of dollars that we see being paid for use of force by the LAPD?” Ortiz said. “Can we trust this police department to police others when they can’t control themselves?”
James “Jim” Willis, a former LAPD detective who later worked for the LA Police Commission’s inspector general’s office, said he agrees with the intent of the order: to bring greater accountability to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. But you have questions about how it will work in practice.
First, he said, it’s unclear whether LAPD officers should respond whenever ICE operations are conducted. Doing so will put a strain on the department, which has cut officers by the hundreds in the past few years, he said.
It is also not clear what will happen with the recorded video.
“Who will check this?” he asked. “Are you now creating a new group, a new class and a new class?”
Since rolling out the small recording devices in 2015, the city has spent millions of dollars, both on the body cameras themselves and on digital file storage. LAPD officials have admitted that most of the images collected by the police have not been reviewed, as there are not enough personnel to review them.
At a news conference Tuesday, Jocelyn Duarte, executive director of the Salvadoran American Leadership and Educational Fund, praised Bass’ order and called on the Los Angeles Police Board, which provides oversight of the LAPD, to ensure that officers “protect Angelenos from the state’s illegal behavior.”
“Local law enforcement must not be complicit in silence or inaction when federal agents cross legal and ethical boundaries,” Duarte said. “Now it is imperative that our commission and the LAPD fully implement this order and make it clear that our city will not allow fear-based enforcement to define life in our community.”
Ortiz said he is happy that the order puts money on private property owners who allow immigration agents to use their property. The Institute of Popular Education of Southern California has been a leader in calling for the ouster of Home Depot, which has not taken a public stand against repeated raids on the day labor centers the organization runs in stores.
“I think something needs to be done about these big multi-billion dollar companies that are allowing this and choosing to stay silent while their customers are being dragged away,” Ortiz said.
