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Chief Todd Bettison (File photo)
Detroit Police Chief Todd Bettison said two officers have been suspended for calling Customs and Border Patrol during traffic stops, which may lead to the deportation of two people suspected of being in the U.S. unlawfully, the Detroit Free Press reports.
Bettison has told the City Council that department policy is not to conduct immigration enforcement.
“Of our officers, 98–99 percent do it the right way each and every day,” he said. “But I do have one or two percent who decide to violate our rules, our policies and our procedures, and to those officers, I will hold them accountable.”
Last Thursday, Bettison asked the Detroit Police Commissioners to uphold the suspensions without pay, reports the Freep’s Violet Ikonomova. The board will decide this Thursday.
The incidents happened on Dec. 16 and Feb. 9.
In one of those cases, on Feb. 9, Bettison said a police sergeant called Border Patrol after an officer requested translation services during a traffic stop, the Freep reports.
Border Patrol responded and determined the individual was not a U.S. citizen and, “as a result,” took the person, Bettison said.
