Fairfax County PD Suspends Officer for Helping ICE

Ferlon Webster Jr. | October 1, 2019
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A Fairfax County Police Department (FCPD) officer has been “relieved of all law enforcement duties” after turning over a driver without a Virginia Operator’s license to an ICE agent on Saturday.  

The FCPD officer was handling a traffic accident in the city of Alexandria and learned one of the driver’s involved didn’t possess a license. The officer obtained the driver’s information and checked the DMV record to verify the driver’s identity. During the verification process the officer was notified that the driver was wanted by ICE “for an administrative violation warrant on file for the failure to appear for a deportation hearing.”

After contacting the ICE agent that was listed as the point of contact for the confirmation of the warrant, the officer was told by the agent that they were close to the location of the traffic accident.

The FCPD officer issued a ticket to the driver for driving without a license and detained the driver through a custodial detention and turned the driver over to the ICE agent once they arrived.

Fairfax County Police Chief Edwin C. Roessler, Jr. issued a statement about the incident, saying this “damages our reputation” and that his officers should not be “acting as a civil immigration agent for ICE.”

“As a matter of full transparency to our community – our police officer violated our longstanding policy and deprived a person of their freedom, which is unacceptable,” Roessler said. “Our county is one of the most diverse counties in the nation and no one should have the perception that FCPD is acting as a civil immigration agent for ICE. This matter damages our reputation and the longstanding policy that I have stated many times that our officers shall not act as immigration agents.”

“The officer involved in this event has been relieved of all law enforcement duties pending the outcome of this investigation,” he continued. “It is my role as the leader of this police force to enforce our FCPD – and Fairfax County – policies and hold all accountable for their actions.”

The police chief also stated that his department does not “enforce nor detain for administrative warrants” and they “have no authority to enforce federal law.”

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