The Democrat mayor of Rochester, New York, is facing backlash after he criticized police who answered a call to help Border Patrol on a traffic stop on Monday.
Rochester Mayor Malik Evans held a press conference Wednesday with Rochester Police Chief David Smith to chastise the two officers for violating their “sanctuary city” policies.
‘The reality is, there’s a lot more profiling, there’s a lot more disdain for being Latino right now in this country.’
Border Patrol stopped the van at about 5:30 p.m. near the intersection of Lyell Avenue and Whitney Street and called for backup about a half-hour later. Smith said that officers acted on their own out of the view of the RPD supervisor who first responded to the call.
“The officers on the scene verbally directed the occupants to get out of the vehicle, and this is against our policy,” said the mayor.
“What is also very concerning is that RPD officers went out of view of the supervisor who was on scene to initiate contact with occupants of the vehicle while Border Patrol stands by,” Smith added, “when in reality, they [Border Patrol] should be initiating contact and we should be there ensuring their safety.”
Evans said police will receive more instruction about the sanctuary city order.
“Our policy is crystal clear. City police officers do not help or participate in federal immigration activities,” he added.
The Locust Club, a Rochester Police union, released a statement defending the officers.
“RPD did not initiate this traffic stop and had no information about the occupants whatsoever. The agents asked the officers to assist in having the occupants exit the vehicle, which ultimately the occupants did without resistance,” read the statement.
“The officers placed the occupants in handcuffs for officer safety without incident and left them with the HSI agents on scene,” the statement continued. “The officers on scene asked no questions of the occupants about their immigration status or relevant documents. No force was used.”
The union accused the mayor of overreacting to the incident and said the officers involved did nothing wrong.
City Council President Miguel Melendez suggested that the policies were needed in order to oppose racism against Latinos.
“The reality is, there’s a lot more profiling, there’s a lot more disdain for being Latino right now in this country,” he said. “With that being said, we have a policy. It is the responsibility of the council to ensure that we are following these policies.”
Another city council member said she viewed video from the incident and that officers were threatening immigrant construction workers in the van.
The city first adopted “sanctuary city” polices in 1986 and reaffirmed those policies 21 years later in 2017.
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