Police Chief Says Department Will Keep Vow to Not Work With ICE

Pasadena Police Chief John Perez told Pasadena Now that the department remains committed to not sharing information with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The comment came on the heels of a story that appeared in the L.A. Times that reported the department had violated its pledge to not work with ICE after information shared with a money-laundering task force may have then been shared with immigration authorities by homeland security officials. 

“We continue our pledge not to knowingly share any information regarding immigration investigations. We forbid it, and it’s not what we do,” said Perez.

According to Perez, in August the department began sharing license plate reader information with a federal task force without being told it included ICE personnel.

That task force, the Homeland Security Investigations Bulk Cash Smuggling Center, is not an immigration enforcement unit. Rather, the unit works to prevent the funding of criminal enterprises.

Pasadena police Lt. William Grisafe told the Times that the department began sharing the license plate reader data to help “restrict the flow of funding that supports criminal enterprises.”

The department then ceased sharing the information after concerns arose about immigration enforcement. 

Automated License Plate Readers, which are used by police agencies across the country, have long been opposed by local civil rights activists because they are able to track people’s movements without their consent.

Several local organizations have called on the city to end its relationship with Vigilant Solutions, a private form that makes the license plate readers.

The city approved the purchase of three license plate readers from Vigilant Solutions in September. At the time, some local residents expressed concerns about the purchase in correspondence to the City Council. 

“My concerns are over privacy and data protection. How will this data be stored, used and protected? What prevents the data from being shared with companies for money or with immigration enforcement agencies?” asked Blair Miller of the Pasadena Complete Streets Coalition at the time. 

In 2017,  City Manager Steve Mermell announced that he voided a reimbursement agreement between police and ICE  after discovering he never signed or reviewed the three-month-old document.

At that time, the City Council was revisiting its policies due to President Trump’s threats of a crackdown on immigrants and cities harboring them.

Absent the City Manager’s signature, the agreement was not legally executed under the city’s charter.

Mermell told the City Council’s Public Safety Committee that it was not “appropriate” for him to execute the agreement with ICE.

Although the MOU between ICE and the PPD was dated Nov. 15, 2016, Mermell was not aware of it until the following February. 

One month later, the Pasadena City Council unanimously passed an official resolution declaring that “The City of Pasadena will not enforce federal immigration laws and the City Manager will ensure that all city policies are consistent with this declaration.”

Perez said the department will take a strong look at who it is sharing information with. 

“We intend to review all sharing entities and exclude anyone investigating immigration violations,” Perez said. “With consideration for gun-running, human trafficking, and gang violence, we will continue to cooperate with federal agencies on these types of criminal investigations and others.”