Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good morning guys, Good morning all the listeners out there
(00:01):
looking forward to our conversation.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Yeah, me too. It has gotten a bit controversial after
the statement the video, uh that you and the mayor
put out the other day regarding Omaha's posture toward those
who are here illegally, And I just want to get
some clarity on a couple of things. That the main
message seemed to be from the mayor that nobody living
in Omaha has to be living in fear, regardless of
(00:26):
their of their immigration status, and that the Omaha Police
Department's job is not to go looking for people are
here illegally. Understood, what I want to know, get some
clarity on, Uh, when you apprehend what OPD apprehends an individual, Uh,
you do under those circumstances, check their immigration status. Is
(00:47):
that true?
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Yeah, when they're when they're when they're physically right and
taking jail, of course, or immigration statuses is checked, and
if they're here illegally, that does get turned on. We're
at that point. Let me let me kind of explain
what our stance is. I think the mayor has done
an incredible job of nuance in this and happy to
be on this morning because I'm not sure we've got
(01:11):
the best questions on this particular subject. So there's some
linger and things I want to clear up all over.
There's kind of three ways to do this when you
this immigration issue. There's one extreme of a sanctuary city,
meaning we're going to impede, we're going to obstruct, we
are not going to help the federal government at all
(01:32):
on immigration enforcement. Meaning if there're a warrant, we're not
going to honor it, we're not going to turn any
names over that get arrested. That's a sanctuary city, that's
not the City of Omah. Then there's the other extreme
of turning your agency into not only whatever your law
enforcement agencies, but an immigration a federal immigration agency as well.
(01:56):
Meaning you're going to the other extreme, you're going to
change almost a mission of your department. Them all police
department under the mayor, who I think has done a
great job of nuance in this is right down the middle. Look,
we have our mission, we have our course of work
to do as a police department, and there's plenty of work.
Let me tell you, We simply on a practical basis
(02:18):
can't take over becoming federal immigration officers. So we splice
it down the middle. If you're a victim of a crime,
if you're a witness of a crime, or just during
the regular course of business running into a police officer,
we're not checking your immigration status. And the reason we're
not doing that is a practical basis. We don't have
(02:38):
the time to do that. But two, imagine the bet
of victims I create. If a victim or witness can't
come forward because they happen to be here illegally, I've
created a better domestic violence victims, better child of these victims,
changing the entire mission of our policing in this community,
and I'm not willing to do that now. If during
(02:59):
the course of our investigation and you get pulled over
for a traffic stop, that general data check for traffic
stop is not going to yield whether or not you're
illegal or illegal. But if the federal government issues a
warrant for your arrest because of your illegal status, that
will show up, and of course we will enforce that.
(03:22):
There are times when there are violent fenders in our
community and the government may need help getting them. Of course,
as chief, if I have somebody that's committed to murder
and they have an illegal warrant. Yes, I don't want
that person in this community, so yes, we will help
with that. So we're really right down the middle. We
will turn in names occasionally, if we think somebody is violent,
(03:45):
we'll take the extra step to go check their immigration status.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
Well, I want to back up for a second here.
Suppose that somebody's arrested for criminal activity and you determined
through the check that they are here illegally. You said
that a second ago that you turned that information over
in some cases. Does that mean not all cases?
Speaker 1 (04:05):
Oh? No, if they're physically arrested, Gary, Yeah, there the
information when you get to the jail, it's all it's
all betting and all that get turned over the federal government.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
What I wants? What if Ice wants you to help?
So we've got we've got an operation coming Omaha. We'd
like to use your facilities, your conference room. We'd like
to have some traffic control around this operation. What's your
answer to that?
Speaker 1 (04:28):
Look, it's it's it's case by case. We're not immigration agents.
And really the federal government really hasn't been asking up
to this point any local governments to do that. They
kind of just bring in agents from other areas to
assist with that. It's been my position that, yes, occasionally
we will do some traffic enforcement and things like that
(04:48):
to keep the public safe. But I don't have themand
power to lead an immigration suite, nor really should we.
That's not our mission. And quite frankly, Geary, if I
tripled the size of the Omaha Police Department, we wouldn't
be able to fill that task.
Speaker 3 (05:04):
Okay, let me ask you this out just as a
general procedure, and this is probably what BTT Nebraskans care
more about. They appreciate your policy, but I think they
care about procedure. You're in your office, the phone rings,
It's somebody from ICE. They say, we understand that there
may be some undocumented immigrants in Omaha, and they ask you,
are you aware of these people? The question is number one,
(05:27):
what do you do if you get that answer? Number two?
If they come in and they need to arrest some people,
or they need to detain people, do they detain people
at your jails? Where do they detain them? What happens
to them? Where is the process and procedure? If ICE
comes to Omaha and starts asking questions about people.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
If ICE calls the Omah Police department and they have
a list of people with violent felonies and a handful
or something, we may just go and look for them ourselves. Okay,
if they're going to do a large skill SUITEP and
just randomly check immigration status of a facility or something,
we're not going to get involved in that. That's we
(06:11):
wouldn't have the expertise, we wouldn't have to know how.
That's kind of what are standard.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
But if they ask you a little bit of.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
That question, because I don't don't think I answered at all.
Speaker 3 (06:20):
No, I think that's good the question because because what
Americans want undocumented people out of the country. They want
to start with criminals. They want children to be identified
and reunited with their families because three hundred thousand of
them are walking around the country. But they want to
know what's going to happen, and they want to know
if local law enforcement and not just Omaha Police, but
(06:40):
the county sheriff and the state patrol are going to
assist ice in identifying and detaining these people. And your
answer is depends on the case.
Speaker 1 (06:52):
Depends on the case. As a general course of business,
though it is not our mission to go out start
identifying who's illegal who's not legal. It's pretty much that simple. Now,
if there's a public safety need and somebody's identified has
a warrant something of that nature, of course we're going
to We're going to intercede for in the nature of
public safety. And so that's why I say the normal
(07:13):
police department is right down the middle.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
What about if if I just came in and said, look,
we're not asking you to do this raid or lead
this raid, but we do need a little help with
perimeter security because there could be some unpleasant things happening
and we don't want innocent people hurt. Would you help
with that?
Speaker 1 (07:30):
Yeah, I would. I would have to help with that
because public safety for the traffic control would be needed.
And you know, we do have a we do have
a relationship with the federal government. We do work together
on a number of cases. My stance is pretty simple.
During the normal course of our business, is not our
mission to be checking immigration status. It causes a ton
(07:53):
of unintended consequences, and I've laid those up pretty clearly. Now.
Every example you're describing to me, for the most part,
is not normal.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
Well, but we got a new sheriff in down of course,
that's why I would you detained. Would city jails be
used to detain ice arrested individuals?
Speaker 1 (08:11):
Most most likely they would. Okay, and we do have
we do have a new sheriff, and the sheriff and
I work closely together.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
No, I'm in, I'm in the sheriff. Yeah, I mean
Sheriff Trump and Sheriff Home. And I mean that the
landscape is a little different now, So that's why we're
having discussion.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
Yeah, I mean, I don't see I don't you know,
there is there is a change in presidents, but we're
If you think that that's filtered down to a level
that's going to counter man anything that we're doing here,
I don't see that.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
I don't honestly, Todd, I don't think this is going
to be a major issue until the first wave of
acquisitions and detentions take place, which is violent criminals. But
this administration promises to deport all undocumented illegal aliens, and
eventually you're going to get to people who aren't necessarily
criminals that are here. I mean criminal, violent criminals. They're
(09:04):
they're breaking the law by being here, but violent criminals
that are a threat to public safety. So at some
point you're going to have a gray area where people
who aren't breaking laws are going to get rounded up.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
Yeah, and that's the that's the progression that it may
come to. I don't think anybody if if I get
if I get a call from somebody that says, look,
we have this, we have a warrm this person has
a warmth for a murder in your city, and they
are you have for immigration status is illegal. Look I'm
going to go arrest them. I'm gonnaarrest them for that warrant, right,
(09:39):
and then as soon as I arrest them, their legal
status goes over. We're not going to stop being police officers.
We're not going to stop with the public safety aspect
of anything. But you're right. I think it's Rosie that
mentioned that. You're right, Rosie. At some point it could
become a gray area. But ask yourself this, what what
have I just created If I turn this Omaha Police
(10:00):
Department into an immigration.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
Well, and I think that's legit. You very much have
people that would be afraid to come forward if they
have evidence and they're in it though I haven't committed
a crime, that's legit. Thank you always, good to have
you on
Good morning guys, Good morning all the listeners out there
(00:01):
looking forward to our conversation.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Yeah, me too. It has gotten a bit controversial after
the statement the video, uh that you and the mayor
put out the other day regarding Omaha's posture toward those
who are here illegally, And I just want to get
some clarity on a couple of things. That the main
message seemed to be from the mayor that nobody living
in Omaha has to be living in fear, regardless of
(00:26):
their of their immigration status, and that the Omaha Police
Department's job is not to go looking for people are
here illegally. Understood, what I want to know, get some
clarity on, Uh, when you apprehend what OPD apprehends an individual, Uh,
you do under those circumstances, check their immigration status. Is
(00:47):
that true?
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Yeah, when they're when they're when they're physically right and
taking jail, of course, or immigration statuses is checked, and
if they're here illegally, that does get turned on. We're
at that point. Let me let me kind of explain
what our stance is. I think the mayor has done
an incredible job of nuance in this and happy to
be on this morning because I'm not sure we've got
(01:11):
the best questions on this particular subject. So there's some
linger and things I want to clear up all over.
There's kind of three ways to do this when you
this immigration issue. There's one extreme of a sanctuary city,
meaning we're going to impede, we're going to obstruct, we
are not going to help the federal government at all
(01:32):
on immigration enforcement. Meaning if there're a warrant, we're not
going to honor it, we're not going to turn any
names over that get arrested. That's a sanctuary city, that's
not the City of Omah. Then there's the other extreme
of turning your agency into not only whatever your law
enforcement agencies, but an immigration a federal immigration agency as well.
(01:56):
Meaning you're going to the other extreme, you're going to
change almost a mission of your department. Them all police
department under the mayor, who I think has done a
great job of nuance in this is right down the middle. Look,
we have our mission, we have our course of work
to do as a police department, and there's plenty of work.
Let me tell you, We simply on a practical basis
(02:18):
can't take over becoming federal immigration officers. So we splice
it down the middle. If you're a victim of a crime,
if you're a witness of a crime, or just during
the regular course of business running into a police officer,
we're not checking your immigration status. And the reason we're
not doing that is a practical basis. We don't have
(02:38):
the time to do that. But two, imagine the bet
of victims I create. If a victim or witness can't
come forward because they happen to be here illegally, I've
created a better domestic violence victims, better child of these victims,
changing the entire mission of our policing in this community,
and I'm not willing to do that now. If during
(02:59):
the course of our investigation and you get pulled over
for a traffic stop, that general data check for traffic
stop is not going to yield whether or not you're
illegal or illegal. But if the federal government issues a
warrant for your arrest because of your illegal status, that
will show up, and of course we will enforce that.
(03:22):
There are times when there are violent fenders in our
community and the government may need help getting them. Of course,
as chief, if I have somebody that's committed to murder
and they have an illegal warrant. Yes, I don't want
that person in this community, so yes, we will help
with that. So we're really right down the middle. We
will turn in names occasionally, if we think somebody is violent,
(03:45):
we'll take the extra step to go check their immigration status.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
Well, I want to back up for a second here.
Suppose that somebody's arrested for criminal activity and you determined
through the check that they are here illegally. You said
that a second ago that you turned that information over
in some cases. Does that mean not all cases?
Speaker 1 (04:05):
Oh? No, if they're physically arrested, Gary, Yeah, there the
information when you get to the jail, it's all it's
all betting and all that get turned over the federal government.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
What I wants? What if Ice wants you to help?
So we've got we've got an operation coming Omaha. We'd
like to use your facilities, your conference room. We'd like
to have some traffic control around this operation. What's your
answer to that?
Speaker 1 (04:28):
Look, it's it's it's case by case. We're not immigration agents.
And really the federal government really hasn't been asking up
to this point any local governments to do that. They
kind of just bring in agents from other areas to
assist with that. It's been my position that, yes, occasionally
we will do some traffic enforcement and things like that
(04:48):
to keep the public safe. But I don't have themand
power to lead an immigration suite, nor really should we.
That's not our mission. And quite frankly, Geary, if I
tripled the size of the Omaha Police Department, we wouldn't
be able to fill that task.
Speaker 3 (05:04):
Okay, let me ask you this out just as a
general procedure, and this is probably what BTT Nebraskans care
more about. They appreciate your policy, but I think they
care about procedure. You're in your office, the phone rings,
It's somebody from ICE. They say, we understand that there
may be some undocumented immigrants in Omaha, and they ask you,
are you aware of these people? The question is number one,
(05:27):
what do you do if you get that answer? Number two?
If they come in and they need to arrest some people,
or they need to detain people, do they detain people
at your jails? Where do they detain them? What happens
to them? Where is the process and procedure? If ICE
comes to Omaha and starts asking questions about people.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
If ICE calls the Omah Police department and they have
a list of people with violent felonies and a handful
or something, we may just go and look for them ourselves. Okay,
if they're going to do a large skill SUITEP and
just randomly check immigration status of a facility or something,
we're not going to get involved in that. That's we
(06:11):
wouldn't have the expertise, we wouldn't have to know how.
That's kind of what are standard.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
But if they ask you a little bit of.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
That question, because I don't don't think I answered at all.
Speaker 3 (06:20):
No, I think that's good the question because because what
Americans want undocumented people out of the country. They want
to start with criminals. They want children to be identified
and reunited with their families because three hundred thousand of
them are walking around the country. But they want to
know what's going to happen, and they want to know
if local law enforcement and not just Omaha Police, but
(06:40):
the county sheriff and the state patrol are going to
assist ice in identifying and detaining these people. And your
answer is depends on the case.
Speaker 1 (06:52):
Depends on the case. As a general course of business,
though it is not our mission to go out start
identifying who's illegal who's not legal. It's pretty much that simple. Now,
if there's a public safety need and somebody's identified has
a warrant something of that nature, of course we're going
to We're going to intercede for in the nature of
public safety. And so that's why I say the normal
(07:13):
police department is right down the middle.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
What about if if I just came in and said, look,
we're not asking you to do this raid or lead
this raid, but we do need a little help with
perimeter security because there could be some unpleasant things happening
and we don't want innocent people hurt. Would you help
with that?
Speaker 1 (07:30):
Yeah, I would. I would have to help with that
because public safety for the traffic control would be needed.
And you know, we do have a we do have
a relationship with the federal government. We do work together
on a number of cases. My stance is pretty simple.
During the normal course of our business, is not our
mission to be checking immigration status. It causes a ton
(07:53):
of unintended consequences, and I've laid those up pretty clearly. Now.
Every example you're describing to me, for the most part,
is not normal.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
Well, but we got a new sheriff in down of course,
that's why I would you detained. Would city jails be
used to detain ice arrested individuals?
Speaker 1 (08:11):
Most most likely they would. Okay, and we do have
we do have a new sheriff, and the sheriff and
I work closely together.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
No, I'm in, I'm in the sheriff. Yeah, I mean
Sheriff Trump and Sheriff Home. And I mean that the
landscape is a little different now, So that's why we're
having discussion.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
Yeah, I mean, I don't see I don't you know,
there is there is a change in presidents, but we're
If you think that that's filtered down to a level
that's going to counter man anything that we're doing here,
I don't see that.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
I don't honestly, Todd, I don't think this is going
to be a major issue until the first wave of
acquisitions and detentions take place, which is violent criminals. But
this administration promises to deport all undocumented illegal aliens, and
eventually you're going to get to people who aren't necessarily
criminals that are here. I mean criminal, violent criminals. They're
(09:04):
they're breaking the law by being here, but violent criminals
that are a threat to public safety. So at some
point you're going to have a gray area where people
who aren't breaking laws are going to get rounded up.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
Yeah, and that's the that's the progression that it may
come to. I don't think anybody if if I get
if I get a call from somebody that says, look,
we have this, we have a warrm this person has
a warmth for a murder in your city, and they
are you have for immigration status is illegal. Look I'm
going to go arrest them. I'm gonnaarrest them for that warrant, right,
(09:39):
and then as soon as I arrest them, their legal
status goes over. We're not going to stop being police officers.
We're not going to stop with the public safety aspect
of anything. But you're right. I think it's Rosie that
mentioned that. You're right, Rosie. At some point it could
become a gray area. But ask yourself this, what what
have I just created If I turn this Omaha Police
(10:00):
Department into an immigration.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
Well, and I think that's legit. You very much have
people that would be afraid to come forward if they
have evidence and they're in it though I haven't committed
a crime, that's legit. Thank you always, good to have
you on
Popular Podcasts
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.