An investigation by the New York City Department of Investigations (DOI) revealed that an NYPD officer may have violated sanctuary city laws by cooperating with federal immigration enforcement agents.
Now, some elected officials are questioning whether the police department can be trusted to uphold the essence of these regulations.
As part of its findings, the DOI noted at least five incidents between November 2024 and last summer where the NYPD interacted with federal agencies for immigrant monitoring purposes.
The agency found that most NYPD policies comply with City law, but identified one instance where an officer on a Homeland Security task force allegedly honored a federal request to create a digital list of suspected Tren Aragua gang members in contact with the NYPD.
No arrests stemmed from this action, but that officer has been removed from the joint task force with restricted access to the NYPD’s database, the DOI report says. The report, for its part, acknowledges the efforts of local authorities with sanctuary city laws and also suggests some recommendations to ensure NYPD compliance.
That includes conducting an audit of officers working jointly with federal agencies, in addition to providing guidance on how to handle non-criminal immigration enforcement requests.
In a statement, an NYPD spokesperson said that the police department will accept the recommendations of the DOI report and ensure overall compliance.
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