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Fairfax County police officer to return to work after suspension for turning man over to ICE
A Fairfax County police officer will be back at work Friday after serving a suspension for turning a man over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, officials said Wednesday. The officer’s decision went against the county’s longstanding policy of not helping the federal agency with immigration enforcement.
FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. (FOX 5 DC) - A Fairfax County police officer will be back at work Friday after serving a suspension for turning a man over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, officials said Wednesday. The officer’s decision went against the county’s longstanding policy of not helping the federal agency with immigration enforcement.
RELATED: Fairfax County police officer suspended for alerting ICE after traffic stop
The incident in question began with a traffic accident near Alexandria on September 21. According to police, the unnamed officer found out that one of the drivers involved in the accident didn’t have a license, so he looked him up. That’s when he learned the driver was wanted by ICE for failing to show up for a deportation hearing. Police say the driver then contacted ICE, issued the driver a summons for driving without a license, and then instead of letting him go, decided to hold the driver before eventually turning him over to ICE.
Ultimately, that’s why the officer was suspended until Friday, as first reported by The Washington Post.
“Our officers shall not participate in the civil process of ICE. In this particular situation the officer had no local criminal charges on the driver,” Fairfax County Police Chief Edwin C. Roessler Jr. said in a phone interview Tuesday.
Others saw the issue differently, however. The Fraternal Order of Police released a statement Wednesday, saying in part, “police officers don’t have the luxuries that politicians have in terms of which laws are good and which are not — we enforce them as they’re written.”
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Acting Director Ken Cuccinelli also weighed in, tweeting, “maybe these officers should call ICE despite their departments’ policies of harboring illegal aliens? Resist the resistance ...”
The officer underwent remedial training after the incident, according to the Post. In a statement released Wednesday night, Roessler said, “we have one of the best police forces in the U.S. and I have confidence that our Officer will represent us well throughout his career.”