Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling defends officers' actions during Operation Midway Blitz
Many Chicagoans on Thursday were demanding answers, investigations, and accountability, accusing Chicago police of collaborating with federal immigration agents in violation of sanctuary laws.
The Community Commission on Public Safety hosted an occasionally tense conversation between residents and Police Supt. Larry Snelling on Thursday evening in Brighton Park.
Many at the meeting said interactions between police and immigration agents during last year's federal immigration crackdown in Chicago were not just a violation of trust, but also a violation of the law.
The Welcoming City Ordinance in Chicago prohibits police from participating in civil immigration enforcement operations or assisting ICE.
"We have seen CPD and ICE collaborating, and we're demanding that you hold them accountable," said Gianna Escareno, with the Immigrant Rights Working Committee.
The Chicago Police Department has said its officers never assist with immigration enforcement, but CPD officers were seen at the scene of some immigration enforcement and protests last fall. The department said they were there for crowd and traffic control.
But their visibility triggered questions about the role of CPD as it related to immigration enforcement in Chicago, which is a sanctuary city.
"Being protected by a line of CPD officers allows them to carry out these illegal detentions with little public accountability," said Kayla Nguyen, also with the Immigrant Rights Working Committee.
Snelling defended police officers' actions, including incidents when police stepped between federal agents and people protesting immigration enforcement activity.
"If we have a protest around it, and we're trying to protect people, we're trying to keep people safe, and we're trying to keep crowds divided so no one gets hurt, injured, shot, killed," he said.
The meeting ended with some people having to be removed, but Snelling said afterwards he hopes a dialogue between CPD and the public remains open.
However, Snelling also said some of the people who spoke at the meeting to criticize officers' actions "came in with an agenda" and sought only to disrupt the meeting without listening to opposing views.
"Those things are not conducive to dialogue that's going to help people understand what it is we're doing and how we can get better. There's a point where we have to come together and try to figure this thing out," Snelling said.
Meantime, the commission also approved a recommendation for the city's inspector general to audit CPD's implementation of the Welcoming City Ordinance.
