Police Union: ‘Inflammatory and Demoralizing’ for Sanctuary Chief to Suspend Officer who Helped ICE

The Fairfax County, Virginia, police union is hitting back after the sanctuary county’s police chief suspended an officer who had helped Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents capture an illegal alien fugitive.

As Breitbart News reported, Fairfax County Police Chief Edwin Roessler Jr. suspended an officer from his duties pending an investigation after he learned that the officer aided the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency in locating and arresting a wanted illegal alien – a violation of the county’s sanctuary policy, which shields illegal aliens from arrest and deportation.

Since the incident, the officer was reinstated to his position at the Fairfax County Police Department, but was made to undergo “remedial training,” as Breitbart News reported.

In response, the Fairfax County Police Association (FCPA) released a statement, calling Roessler’s comments “inflammatory and demoralizing” to officers at the police department.

“The actions [the officer] took were done with the best of intentions and in keeping with what they believed was the spirit of the law,” the FCPA said in a statement, continuing:

The FCPA condemns the statement made by Chief Roessler as inflammatory and demoralizing. This incident has been sensationalized and our officer has been sacrificed in favor of a media spectacle. This comes at a time when our department is already experiencing an unparalleled deterioration in morale and an unprecedented distrust of our leadership. Politically motivated decisions cannot be disguised as transparency. We appreciate the outpouring of support that has been received from our community and around the country. [Emphasis added]

The officer had helped ICE capture an illegal alien who was wanted after failing to appear for his deportation hearing. At the time, the officer took the illegal alien into custody and eventually turned him over to ICE agents.

In response, Roessler said the decision by the officer was a violation of the agency’s sanctuary policy.

“When I learned of this event, I directed an immediate internal investigation to look at all factors in this matter to ensure that all are held accountable for this violation,” Roessler said.

As Breitbart News has chronicled, Fairfax County has become a central home to the violent MS-13 gang from El Salvador, in part thanks to the generous sanctuary county policy. The gang is made up mostly of illegal aliens from El Salvador who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border, posing as unaccompanied minor children.

John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.