Mutual Aid Agreements Between Local Police Departments

kenty9x | December 13, 2020 | 0

Seattle police helped during the Trump rally in Lynden this summer (a few bike teams). I wonder what the mutual interest is – will the SPD ever ask the Lynden police for help? To this end, the “Welcome City” resolution invites the SPD to prepare a report for the Council containing all of the ministry`s mutual assistance agreements, a list of which section 287 (g) has a say with ICE, and proposals for amendments to mutual assistance agreements to streamline the various policies for the application of federal immigration law. The first took place on Saturday night, when a spontaneous protest demonstration took place at Sea-Tac airport in response to President Trump`s executive order restricting travel from several Muslim-majority countries. Referring to its mutual aid agreements, the Port of Seattle police called for reinforcements from several nearby cities, including Seattle. The protesters were non-violent, but during the hours of protest they tried to block the entrances to security checkpoints and exits from the secure areas of the terminal. Most of the police response has been measured, but there have been reports of isolated incidents of tear gas used on some protesters and other acts of violence by police, as well as a handful of arrests. The SPD`s official response is that none of the SPD officers used tear gas or arrested while using bicycles to create barriers for the Corral among protesters (an action that is routinely checked). In addition, under the Mutual Assistance Act, Lynden entered into a mutual aid agreement with all jurisdictions in the state, but not very precisely. It is important to distinguish between “laws” and “policies” here. If a police authority is appointed to another jurisdiction as part of a mutual aid agreement, the laws that will be enforced will be those of the “host” jurisdiction. Civil laws are geographical; They don`t travel with police officers. But some of the laws and many of the department guidelines that apply to the behavior of officers follow them when they are lent to another jurisdiction.

For example, SPD officials should not inquire about a person`s immigration status – even if they work in a jurisdiction that allows public servants to do so, or even have signed a Section 287 (g) contract with ICE. But the opposite is difficult: if a public servant whose national jurisdiction allows to inquire about immigration status is lent to Seattle, can he exercise that capacity here? But Councillor Sawant threw a grenade in the middle of the conversation and suggested that the SPD could not organize anti-Trump protests. Councillor Burgess reacted strongly by arguing that it was very dangerous to “set up a political agenda on police policy and mutual aid agreements… we can express our contempt for the Trump administration, but we can always support the good work of the police. Sawant responded that sending police officers for an anti-Trump demonstration and sending them were political acts. She suggested that the protest movement was “our only defense against Trump” and that the only hope was to stop Trump`s agenda. “You just have to choose a page.” The second came today as part of the resolution passed today by the City Council, which confirmed Seattle as a “welcome city.” The resolution specifies that the SPD will not sign an agreement with ICE authorizing local police officers to enforce federal immigration laws.