Chief Todd Bettison at press conference (file photo)
Interim Detroit Police Chief Todd Bettison made it clear Saturday his department won't be involved in the mass deportation of immigrants President elect-Donald Trump has been advocating.
"The Detroit Police Department has a job to do, and our job is not immigration, and so we're not doing immigration enforcement," Bettison said during an appearance Saturday morning on the podcast, "Detroit in Black and White." (See video below)
"So even though we are not considered a sanctuary city...we are a welcoming city...we don't have the problems that many other cities have like the Denvers.
"The Detroit Police Department is enforcing local and state law. We're not immigrationm so my officers are not going to be out there participating in immigration enforcement. That's just not what we do."
A recent report in Newsweek said Trump's immigration advisers are considering plans to enlist local law enforcement to help the feds deport undocumented immigrants. In the past, some police and sheriff's departments have volunteered to assist federal law enforcement in helping deport immigrants.
Bettison, who appeared with co-hosts Adolph Mongo, Vanessa Moss, Allan Lengel, Jim Nardone and Eric Brown, also talked about the impact Black Lives Matter has had on the department, the discovery of 32 officers who were not certified to be on the department and other pressing issues.
