Actions by Colorado officials responsible for Latino distrust in law enforcement

A new poll of Latinos in Colorado shows a high level of distrust for local police and government. 

It’s no surprise to us as we've continued to learn about new cases of local and state governments collaborating with ICE this year.

In poll results from the Colorado Latino Policy Agenda released this week, more than half of Latinos, or 53%, say they do not trust that state agencies will keep their personal data safe and not share it with ICE. And 54% said they don’t trust that their local police won’t collaborate or share data with ICE, even as 65% of Latinos oppose such collaboration in the absence of a judicial warrant. 

When it comes to the distrust of local law enforcement, the rate of distrust is higher in Western Colorado than in the metro area. The rate of distrust is even higher in southeast Colorado. 

Our concern is that when our Latino communities don’t trust local law enforcement or their local government, then they disengage from participating. That could mean fewer people reporting crimes, or being willing to give statements as witnesses, or it could mean that families hesitate when the same agencies try to issue public safety announcements during emergencies. 

It could also mean families afraid to go out and spend money at local businesses. The list of negative consequences can go on and on.

Lawmakers who recognized this helped pass a new law that took effect this summer in Colorado to more strictly limit when law enforcement and local government agencies can collaborate with ICE, mainly in the course of a federal criminal investigation.

The law also created a $50,000 fine against local and state government employees who violate the law by sharing data with ICE. Two out of three Latinos support the fines. 

But this month, Voces Unidas has reported several cases to the state Attorney General’s Office that we suspect may be examples of local governments violating state laws limiting that collaboration.

In one case, sheriff deputies detained a man outside a WalMart and drove him to an ICE agent waiting for him. In another case, an assistant district attorney in Routt county told a judge during a hearing to set bond, that he had received information about an ICE detainer that would be placed on a Latina woman. 

As the cases have been covered by the press, we’ve seen that the Sheriff and the District Attorney leading these agencies aren’t denying what happened, but rather allege that their collaboration with ICE was legal.

Earlier this year, a state employee sued Governor Jared Polis over being asked to share information with ICE. The Colorado Sun also reported that the state had already provided information four times to immigration authorities. And in Mesa County, at least one officer is facing a lawsuit after he collaborated with ICE by sharing information and holding a young woman he stopped that they later detained. 

It is all of these types of actions and practices by elected and public officials, even if some are found to be loopholes or legal in state law, why Latinos distrust law enforcement and the justice system. 

Now the public knows this is how district attorneys and county jails are still able to communicate with ICE.

It’s not a good look. And it’s bad for public safety.