San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl is pledging more frequent reports to the City Council when officers are called to a scene involving federal immigration agents.
The pledge was included in a memo issued on Oct. 30 — one day after City Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera publicly accused Wahl of lacking transparency around the issue.
The public disagreement between the two stems from differing interpretations of the city's Due Process and Safety Ordinance. The council adopted that ordinance last year in an effort to limit cooperation between SDPD and the federal agents carrying out President Trump's immigration crackdown.
The ordinance requires the chief of police to issue written reports to the City Council within three business days anytime SDPD officers are called to a scene where federal agents are conducting immigration enforcement.
Since the ordinance took effect in May, SDPD officers have responded to incidents where federal agents were present but not conducting immigration arrests. Wahl's memo states those incidents are not covered by the Due Process and Safety Ordinance, but that SDPD would report them to the mayor and City Council going forward.
"Our goal is to ensure that elected officials have timely information about SDPD's involvement and can respond to questions from their constituents with a clear understanding of its role," Wahl said.
On Thursday, Elo-Rivera put out a press release including details of four incidents involving SDPD and federal agents. He said SDPD reported the information to his office by text message, but that the details had not yet been seen by the public.
The first incident took place on July 23 and involved Homeland Security Investigations, an agency within Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
"An HSI vehicle broke down near 2500 Fairmount Avenue, and members of the public … gathered to protest," the press release states. "Someone in the crowd broke the vehicle’s windows. Approximately 15 SDPD officers responded to a crowd of about 30, allowing the protest while keeping people away from the vehicle to prevent further vandalism."
SDPD spokesperson Ashley Bailey said such an incident would not be covered by the Due Process and Safety Ordinance because the HSI agents were with a disabled vehicle and not actively conducting immigration enforcement.
Bailey added that SDPD has notified councilmembers of such incidents, and that those communications have been made available to the public upon request.
"SDPD has been open to modifying the process for how we fulfill the requirements of the ordinance," Bailey told KPBS in an e-mail "The department has provided all required notifications under the ordinance, as well as additional instances to the council that are not required."
Elo-Rivera said anytime the public sees SDPD officers at a scene with federal agents, they might assume incorrectly that the two sides are working together. Promptly sharing details of those incidents with the public — not just the City Council — can help dispel misinformation and build trust in the police, he added.
"I don't think we can have safety without trust, and trust requires transparency," Elo-Rivera said. "What has not happened is any communication with the public about under what circumstances SDPD was showing up, what they did when they were there, how long they were there, et cetera."
