(Credit: KLBJ staff)
Austin Chief of Police Brian Manley has issued a response to the recent release of an APD report showing the number of interactions or requests for assistance granted last year to federal immigration agents. In total, there were 541 times police interacted to some degree with ICE, the FBI, or Border Patrol.
The original number given was 581, but Manley has since revised that.
His full statement is below:
“In response to Austin City Council Resolution 20180614-074, the Austin Police Department released a memo on March 1st detailing our interaction with immigration officials during the 2018 calendar year.
Section one of the resolution directed APD to report “Anonymized and individualized records of every instance that a police officer inquires into the immigration status of a suspect”. Section one of the memo contains the individualized report of the single instance during 2018 where an officer made such inquiry.
Section two of the resolution included direction to report on those instances APD provided resources to assist immigration law enforcement. APD was directed to include “the number of officers that assisted immigration law enforcement, the amount of time those officers were involved in such assistance, the financial resources and human resources dedicated to such assistance, the number of individuals arrested as a result of immigration enforcement assistance (if known), the number of arrestees taken into federal immigration custody for alleged civil immigration violations (if known), and, when it is possible to identify, what, if any, other criminal law enforcement work was scheduled to be completed and was delayed or was incomplete, due to the immigration law enforcement assistance provided”. Section two of the memo addresses this requirement by providing information of the four instances where APD assisted federal immigration law enforcement and the related time and money dedicated to those instances.
Section three of the resolution requires APD to report on “Any information that the City shared with a federal immigration enforcement agency at the request of a federal immigration enforcement agency. The information provided in the report to Council should be anonymized and aggregated. The information provided shall include, at a minimum, how many records, and what kind of records, were requested from and shared by the City, and with whom the records were shared with”. Section three of the memo includes the responsive material related to this requirement. The report covers the 541 instances where information was requested, and the types of information provided.
APD has received many questions in regards to this memo, and most of them require additional research into the individualized incidents behind the aggregated report. We have a team reviewing each incident and will report back to the Mayor and Council, and the community, when we have completed our review. In the meantime, we ask that the community continue to come forward if you have been victimized, or witnessed someone else being victimized, regardless of your immigration status. Our commitment to public safety, and to your safety, is not contingent upon your status.”
Chief of Police Brian Manley”
