Officers won’t help deport immigrants under Donald Trump: Los Angeles police chief

Los Angeles police chief Charlie Beck says President-elect Donald Trump’s vows to deport millions after taking office will not affect his department’s longstanding policy of staying out of immigration issues.

Beck told the Los Angeles Times on Monday that his officers are “not going to engage in law enforcement activities solely based on somebody’s immigration status.”

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Beck says it is not the LAPD’s job to work in conjunction on deportation with Homeland Security, and that’s not going to change.

READ MORE: Mayors of ‘sanctuary cities’ say they’ll fight Donald Trump’s deportation plans

It has been department policy for decades not to initiate contact with someone solely to determine whether they are in the country legally.

During Beck’s tenure he has avoided turning over people with questionable immigration status who are arrested for low-level crimes.