Retired cop lays out dangers of Trump’s criminal justice policies

President Donald Trump's U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids during his second presidency are drawing vehement criticism from some Americans with law enforcement and national security resumés, including former U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano, ex-U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara, and Philadelphia Sheriff Rochelle Bilal — who warned that ICE agents will be arrested if they violate Philly laws as part of their operations in her city.

In an article published by the libertarian Reason on February 16, Michael Bollentin — a retired police officer — offers a scathing critique of the Trump Administration's law enforcement policies, including ICE tactics during recent raids in Minneapolis.

"In a video of a late-January incident in Minnesota," Bollentin explains, "federal immigration officers sped past an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) observer's vehicle and swerved to box her in. While the driver called someone and asked them to dial 911, agents approached with weapons drawn and ordered her out of her car. She was taken into custody, only to be released later after an agent received a phone call and diverted to meet the local police chief. From a citizen's perspective, the encounter is frightening and tense. From the perspective of someone who spent years wearing a badge and operating within jurisdictional limits, it raises deeper concerns. "

Bollentin adds, "The issue isn't that enforcement occurred, but that it appears to have taken place without clear authority, restraint or purpose."

That late January video, Bollentin laments, "is not an outlier."

"A growing body of footage shows similar patterns in federal immigration enforcement," the retired police officer warns. "Many of these encounters are initiated without a clear legal basis, then escalate rapidly, with agents using force that conflicts with widely accepted law enforcement standards. In one case, an agent punches an individual in the face during an attempted detention, even though the person does not appear to pose an immediate threat. In others, chemical agents are deployed on individuals already pinned to the ground by multiple officers, sometimes sprayed directly into the face at close range."

The former police officer continues, "People are being struck by canisters or other objects. Pepper-ball munitions are fired at distances that appear to violate use-of-force protocols…. Taken together, these encounters suggest more than isolated judgment errors. They point to a broader pattern of authority being exercised without sufficient legal grounding or professional discipline…. If the current trajectory continues, they may do irreparable damage not only to public trust, but also, to the credibility of law enforcement more broadly."