“I do have a problem with any current police officer who thinks dressing up like SEAL Team Six and putting a mask on to deal with the public is the right way to do police work,” Urquhart said on “The Gee and Ursula Show” on KIRO Newsradio. “They should not be doing that. It’s intimidating. That is no way for a police officer to act. If you think that’s the right way, then go join ICE, because I don’t want you in my department.”
ICE’s impact on crime reporting and public safety
When asked about ICE’s recruiting campaign and how it may weaken community trust with law enforcement inside immigrant communities, Urquhart deemed it a “threat.”
“It’s such a threat, especially with immigrant communities, documented or undocumented,” Urquhart said. “There’s such a fragile connection between the police and the community that they oftentimes don’t make a distinction between local county sheriffs, local and state police, and federal ICE agents. We’re all lumped together, and if they don’t trust ICE, they’re not going to trust local police.”
Urquhart directly linked immigrants’ perception of law enforcement to an increase in unreported crime, claiming that fear of deportation makes immigrants less likely to come forward as a witness or victim…