On behalf of Ventura County Sheriff Geoff Dean, a participating member of Ventura County Law Enforcement Coordinating Committee (VCLECC), we share below the content of a statement recently released by VCLECC on Immigration Enforcement in Ventura County.
With the President’s recent immigration orders, local law enforcement leaders have received numerous inquiries about their role in enforcing immigration laws. As law enforcement leaders within Ventura County, we felt it was important to re-emphasize our longstanding practices in this area.
To be very clear, Ventura County law enforcement has not historically participated in the direct enforcement of immigration laws. We do not intend to change that practice.
A safe community needs an effective police department. In order to be an effective police department we need the trust and cooperation between residents and the officers sworn to protect them. We do not want the fear of immigration status to inhibit the members of our communities from interacting with their police officers, particularly when they are victims or witnesses in criminal cases.
However, we do believe that those who commit crimes that result in their incarceration in county jail and are in our country illegally should be referred to federal authorities for review of their immigration status. This procedure has been in place for years. Between September 2015 and September 2016, over 27,000 people were booked into our county jail from various law enforcement agencies. Of that number, only 238 (less than 1%) were removed by immigration officials. Their charges ranged from homicide, rape, possession of weapons, to driving while under the influence.
Once again, we want to reassure our communities that we intend to continue our practice of NOT participating directly in field level immigration enforcement. We deeply appreciate and value the trust and confidence Ventura County law enforcement shares with our communities and look forward to your continued support.
The statement can also be found on our website, www.vcsd.org, under Community Outreach.
