THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK June 22, 2020 Dermot Shea Police Commissioner 1 Police Plaza New York, NY 10038 Dear Commissioner Shea: We write to follow up with several questions raised by a New York City Council Committee on Public Safety hearing held on June 9 in which First Deputy Benjamin Tucker provided testimony on behalf of the NYPD. At the hearing, Council Members Menchaca and Adams raised several concerning reports and documented sightings of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents present at police precincts and during NYPD arrests. First Deputy Tucker vigorously asserted the NYPD’s commitment to Local Law 228, which bans cooperation between ICE and the NYPD on immigration enforcement, before confirming that ICE/HSI agents assisted the NYPD with precinct security. After First Deputy Tucker admitted that the NYPD was cooperating with ICE, Council Member Menchaca asked whether the City Council could review a formal, written document outlining the nature, scope, and parameters of this cooperative agreement. First Deputy Tucker responded that no such documentation existed. The lack of reviewable material is deeply unsettling and raises serious concerns about the ability of the City Council to ensure that Local Law 228 is enforced. It also prompts additional questions about how the NYPD maintains relationships with ICE and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and records its interactions. Given that First Deputy Tucker testified the NYPD remains wholly committed to Local Law 228 and the security of New York City’s immigrant population, there must be complete transparency regarding non-immigration cooperation. Otherwise, doubts about compliance are rational and immediate. Thus, to ensure transparency and eliminate doubt, we request responses to the following questions: ICE/NYPD Cooperation through Task Forces: ● First Deputy Tucker testified at the hearing that the NYPD and ICE/HSI regularly interact through task forces, and that the decision for ICE/HSI agents to provide precinct security was worked out through these cooperative arrangements: 1 ○ Please provide a list of all task forces in which the NYPD and federal immigration authorities interact. Please also explain what sub-units are involved and provide written documentation that clearly explains the scope, parameters, and who are the NYPD and ICE liaisons. ○ Which task force(s) were involved in making the decision to have ICE/HSI agents provide security to certain police precincts during the protests? ○ On what basis did the NYPD and ICE determine that such cooperation fit the scope of the task force(s) involved? ○ Please explain how meetings of these task forces are recorded. Are there minutes, agendas, or regular schedules that the City Council can review? If so, please provide them. If not, why not? ○ Within the context of these task forces, do NYPD officers ever directly or indirectly assist with immigration enforcement actions? ● While Local Law 228 allows the NYPD to participate in task forces with federal authorities, under the law, these task forces must not be primarily intended to enforce immigration law, and the overall prohibition on use of city resources for immigration enforcement still applies: ○ Is there someone at the NYPD who is appointed to oversee task force operations and report on their activity to ensure compliance with Local Law 228? If so, please provide the City Council the compliance logs for the past six months to review. If no one at NYPD oversees task force operations, how does the NYPD ensure task force cooperation complies with Local Law 228? ○ How does the NYPD ensure that ICE’s involvement in these task forces does not result in the use of city resources (including information accessed) or surveillance for immigration enforcement by partner agencies? How does the NYPD document such internal oversight? ○ How are the roles and activities of these task forces defined? What protocols are in place to ensure that the task forces are used only for the limited purposes for which they are intended? ○ When the NYPD and ICE engage in non-immigration cooperation, how does the NYPD oversee and document it to ensure compliance with Local Law 228? Do federal agents report to someone in the NYPD during non-immigration cooperation? If so, who? If not, why not? ICE/NYPD Cooperation during the recent protests: ● First Deputy Tucker testified that ICE agents provided security at precincts so more NYPD officers could be present at protests, and that federal agents were not patrolling the streets. However, bystanders took 2 video of a man being arrested by ICE/HSI agents at a protest, and ICE later issued a public statement to the press confirming it was assisting the NYPD: ○ Did the NYPD request the assistance of ICE/HSI, or did ICE/HSI volunteer support? Is there documentation of this scope of work and its parameters that the City Council can review? If no such documentation exists that records the nature and scope of the cooperation, by whose authority was the cooperation negotiated and implemented? ○ Did the NYPD inform the Mayor that cooperation was either requested or volunteered? Who in the Mayor’s office liaises with the NYPD to oversee assistance with ICE/HSI to ensure it does not involve immigration enforcement? ○ Is there someone in the NYPD whose job is to oversee the deployment and assistance of ICE/HSI agents to make sure they do not violate City laws barring cooperation between the NYPD and ICE to carry out immigration enforcement while assisting the NYPD? ○ If no one in the NYPD is assigned to oversee ICE/HSI assistance to make sure they comply with City law, how does the NYPD ensure that City laws barring cooperation on immigration enforcement between the NYPD and ICE/HSI are being upheld while they assist the NYPD? ○ Why were ICE/HSI appearing to assist in an arrest? Was it an arrest, and if not, what assistance were they providing the NYPD? ● The NYPD Patrol Guide 212-126 requires that any requests for assistance by immigration authorities, or proposals by NYPD officers to assist immigration authorities must be communicated to the duty chief pursuant to a specific protocol, which includes making a command log entry with pertinent details. These are not required when performing duties as part of a permitted cooperative agreement but should apply when the request falls outside the scope of those agreements: ○ Were any command logs made of the interactions with ICE HSI agents during the period of the protests? Can these be provided to the Council to review? If not, why not? Sincerely, Carlos Menchaca Chair, Committee on Immigration City Council District 38 Laurie A. Cumbo Majority Leader of the Council City Council District 35 3 Diana Ayala Chair, Mental Health, Disabilities, and Addiction City Council District 8