DETROIT — Police Chief Todd Bettison said he plans to fire two Detroit police officers who contacted U.S. Customs and Border Protection during traffic stops, actions that violated department policy, The Detroit News reported.
Bettison told the Board of Police Commissioners in early February that the officer and sergeant involved have been suspended with pay, and he is seeking approval to suspend them without pay while pursuing termination, according to the report.
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“98, 99 percent [of our officers] do it the right way... But I do have one, two percent that decide to violate our rules, our policies and our procedures,” Bettison said. “To those officers, I will hold them accountable.”
Department policy prohibits officers from engaging federal immigration agencies such as ICE or CBP, including for translation services, according to the report. The department has not publicly identified the officers.
The two incidents occurred on Dec. 16 and Feb. 9. In the first, an officer investigating a felony warrant contacted CBP after suspecting the individual was not a U.S. citizen. In the second, a sergeant called CBP for translation help after a person who stopped did not speak English. In both cases, federal agents detained the individuals, according to the report.
The investigation into the officers is ongoing.
