ICE restricts vehicle stops to trained officers and bans high-speed chases

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has issued new guidance limiting which officers may conduct vehicle stops, after several stops ended in shootings. 1 2 Only Enforcement and Removal Operations officers who have completed the relevant training may lead stops; untrained officers may only help, not be the main officer in charge. 1 According to the memo obtained by the Associated Press, signed by ICE executive associate director Marcos D. Charles and dated Wednesday, only officers who completed one of five specific training courses can conduct stops, and untrained officers can take part only in a support capacity as passengers, not as drivers. 2

Vehicles used for stops must have lights and sirens, and the AP-reported memo also requires all officers at a stop to wear and activate body cameras. 1 2 The AP report says officers are barred from chasing vehicles that fail to pull over under any circumstances and should instead record the vehicle's information for later investigation. 2 Pinning, using a vehicle or barrier to trap a car, and spike strips remain allowed but only for specially trained officers. 2

The guidance does not prohibit vehicle stops, according to ABC News' sources. 1 In July, after fatal shootings of drivers in Maine and Texas, DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin temporarily paused traffic stops; ABC reports Trump was reportedly furious and overturned the pause, and AP says the next day Trump directed on social media that stops continue, calling them "one of ICE’s most important and effective Crime Fighting tools." 1 2 AP reports ICE agents have fired their guns in more than a dozen such encounters since last year, killing at least four people and wounding several others, and notes pressure from the White House to deport more people and a hiring spree that put some poorly vetted and trained officers on the street. 2

Both outlets cite the Austin, Texas, case of Venezuelan delivery driver Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, who was shot by an ICE officer last month and has a bullet lodged in his back; he is charged with assaulting, resisting and impeding a federal officer, and his attorneys call the charges retaliation. 1 2 At a bond hearing, testimony showed the shooting officer wore no body camera and the officer with a camera, in a separate car, turned it off during the pursuit, so the officers would not have complied with the new guidance, AP reports. 2 ICE and DHS had no immediate comment to AP, and ABC said it had asked DHS for comment; ABC says CNN first reported the changes. 2 1