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Seattle city council chair calls for DHS to halt operations nationwide
Seattle Public Safety Chair Bob Kettle has called for a nationwide halt to DHS and ICE operations in Seattle and cities nationwide.
SEATTLE - Seattle City Council member Bob Kettle on Tuesday called for the Department of Homeland Security to halt federal law enforcement operations in cities nationwide, citing concerns about public safety, leadership and accountability.
Kettle’s comments come after a second deadly shooting of an American citizen by federal agents in Minneapolis. Kettle criticized what he called "aggressive" and "poorly managed" federal actions that he said undermine trust and safety in local communities.
Seattle responds to second ICE killing in Minneapolis
What they're saying:
"A second tragic killing in three weeks by federal law enforcement in Minneapolis and their indiscriminate, heavy-handed operations against citizens and non-citizens alike, demand the need for the Department of Homeland Security — DHS — to cease operations in our city and cities across the country," said Kettle, who also chairs the Seattle Public Safety Committee. "These DHS federal law enforcement operations are ill-disciplined, not in keeping with established Department of Justice policy or guidance, and are marked by poor leadership, which makes public safety in our cities worse."
The backstory:
Kettle said the creation of DHS following the September 11 attacks shifted immigration enforcement from what he described as a "guardian ethos" to a "warrior ethos" across all levels of government.
"Local governments, such as Seattle, are working to return to a ‘guardian approach.’ We need to do the same with federal law enforcement, particularly with the Department of Homeland Security."
Kettle called on county, state and federal officials to join Seattle in calling for federal immigration enforcement to reform its practices.
"I ask county, state and federal delegations to join the City of Seattle in calling for, in effect, a consent decree for federal immigration law enforcement to reform their working methods so that they can work their mandated mission sets — immigration, but also terrorist networks drug trafficking — for example, not killing protesters," Kettle said.
ICE activity in Seattle, WA
Big picture view:
Kettle said regional public safety would be better served by focusing federal resources on gun and drug trafficking rather than immigration enforcement.
"What the region needs is not ICE, but rather the FBI, the Federal Bureau of [Investigation], ATF — Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms — and DEA — Drug Enforcement Agency — to stop the flow of guns and drugs into our city," Kettle said.
Kettle also shared a new directive issued by the Seattle Police Department, effective Jan. 15, outlining how officers should respond if federal authorities deploy agents or the National Guard into the city without coordination.
"SPD will not abdicate its responsibilities and continue to serve and protect Seattle's communities under the command of the Chief of Police," said Kettle.
He said the directive emphasizes a framework of "engage, confirm and document" when local officers encounter federal agents.
"We need to document these encounters. We need to document what is happening with federal law enforcement in our city," said Kettle.
Local perspective:
Kettle also addressed concerns about police technology, including Automated License Plate Readers (ALPR), closed-circuit television and the city’s Real-Time Crime Center. He said Seattle has strict safeguards in place and does not use the Flock surveillance system that has drawn scrutiny.
"We do not have Flock. We do not have Flock. We do not have the systems that these other jurisdictions had, and the issues that these other jurisdictions in the county and the state have had," Kettle said.
He said access to surveillance systems is tightly controlled and that the technology has been used to assist in missing persons cases and emergency situations.
"For with ALPR, for example, since May of last year, it's been used 18 times for missing person calls […] and on top of that, 14 suicidal subject calls," Kettle said.
Kettle said misinformation about Seattle’s public safety technology has fueled public concern but emphasized that oversight measures were built into the programs when they were approved by the City Council.
"We built in protections, we built in processes, and both systems and the Real-Time Crime Center are serving our city well," Kettle said.
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The Source: Information in this story comes from original reporting by FOX 13 Seattle reporter Alejandra Guzman.