Dallas Police Chief Daniel Comeaux says he will not share details on how often DPD interacts with ICE, rejecting a request made by the Community Police Oversight Board.
Board chair John Mark Davidson made a request on January 7 to DPD to share details on its interactions with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The request came after videos and photographs on social media showed Dallas police officers present during incidents involving ICE.
But Comeaux told the board during its Tuesday meeting that sharing details would "not be in the best interest" of law enforcement.
"It would not be in the best interest of law enforcement to do that right now, to let everyone know where we're going, where we might be going, how many times we might be out," Comeaux said. "It's just not the right thing to do right now."
Comeaux has said that DPD would assist federal agencies. DPD has been at scenes involving ICE to "maintain the safety of all parties involved."
"I can assure you that the Dallas Police Department is not immigration officers and we have not conducted any immigration investigations, nor will we conduct any investigations on immigrations," Comeaux said.
Residents like Azael Alvarez have raised concerns over DPD's involvement with federal agencies for months. Alvarez, who is with El Movimiento DFW, told KERA that he was concerned that DPD would assist unverified people dressed as ICE agents.
"DPD is not identifying ICE agents," Alvarez said. "They are saying that they...can work in undercover capacity. So how do we know if that's actually an ICE agent?"
Board member Changa Higgins said DPD already reports incidents that happen after the fact, so requesting past interactions with federal agencies was not unreasonable.
"We're not asking for proactive policing data or information that could deter any type of activities they have going on or anything that they have going on in the present," Higgins said.
He suggested bringing the issue to the city council for final say.
Board member Brandon Friedman said he was very disappointed in the chief's response to the request. He said Dallas residents are owed more transparency because of current "extraordinary circumstances."
Alvarez said he was also disappointed in Comeaux's response.
He said El Movimiento DFW would continue to push for DPD verification and identification of people claiming to be ICE agents.
"This affects everyone, this is a public safety issue now," he said.
While the board did not receive the response it expected during Tuesday's meeting, Davidson said the board would continue to discuss the issue of transparency moving forward.
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