Small-Town Cops Forced To Pay Out Of Pocket After Local Leftists Freeze $122K Over ICE Deal

The police chief of Stinesville, Indiana, a town of approximately 200 people, told the Daily Caller that local leaders are singling out his department by freezing $122,500 in Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding, forcing him and other officers to foot the bill.

Chief Shane Pittman said the funding was tied to a February agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) under the 287(g) program, which allows local law enforcement to check the immigration status of and detain illegal aliens during routine police work. Pittman said the deal he inherited was a response to local leaders’ failure to properly fund the department. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: White House To Honor First Responders)

“If there’s another funding source, I’m 100 percent open to it, but there’s not. There’s nothing available for us,” Pittman said, adding that officers often supply their own equipment and that he personally equipped a patrol vehicle and leases it to the town for $1 per year.

“Help us fix the money issue, and we wouldn’t necessarily have to participate in this,” Pittman said.

The $122,500 would fund two vehicles, reimburse officer training, and provide essential equipment. The money now sits with the Stinesville Town Board, which faces pressure from county officials to challenge the agreement and warnings from Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita that interfering with it would violate state law.

Although 45 state agencies and local law enforcement departments in Indiana have struck similar deals, Pittman said Monroe County officials have singled out Stinesville to advance their opposition to ICE.

He pointed to a September 26 parade in which a Monroe County snowplow drove through town with a sign reading “ARE YOU READY FOR THE ICE STORM?” plastered on its side. Both Pittman and town board President Scott McGlocklin interpreted the gesture as an attempt to intimidate the town over its ICE agreement.

“I want to make it perfectly clear: The Monroe County Commissioners will not tell this town how it will run,” McGlocklin said at an October 6 town board meeting.

County Commissioner Jody Madeira confirmed the sign’s double meaning, telling the Caller it was a “play on words” intended to “make a point about process.”

“A local parade is a place where we’ve always had some fun with our neighbors, and the snowplow is our usual entry, so a little wordplay on a snowplow felt harmless,” Madeira said, adding that the demonstration came at no additional cost to taxpayers.

Madeira acknowledged that county commissioners were pressuring town leaders, but said they were simply asking them to “do what state law already requires: hold a public vote.” She said commissioners did not care how the vote turned out, only that it took place.

Madeira argued that when a political subdivision exercises a power jointly with another governmental entity, the arrangement must be adopted by ordinance or resolution.

Rokita issued an October 6 opinion disputing that interpretation, arguing that the Stinesville Police Department had the authority to enter the 287(g) agreement without town board approval. He said the Interlocal Cooperation Act did not apply to the agreement, despite arguments that similar arrangements require approval from local governing bodies.

“Further, any attempt by the County Commissioners or any other governmental entity to discourage Stinesville from continuing the agreement, such as by withholding funding, or otherwise to limit or restrict the Stinesville Police Department’s ability to cooperate with federal immigration authorities would almost certainly violate Indiana Code chapter 5-2-18.2,” Rokita said.

Today, my team and I announced we entered an agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) under Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. This agreement will give our investigators greater ability to work side by side with ICE and take stronger action to protect Hoosiers. By the way, every county sheriff across the state should be—and can be—doing what we’re doing. And what sheriffs across the nation are doing. Agreements like these do not take away from local law enforcement; they only add to their ability to keep communities safe. They also open up opportunities to obtain federal funding to enhance public safety, so it helps with your local property taxes. The fact that only six of the 92 sheriffs have signed an agreement like this shows there are missed opportunities for Indiana to enhance the tools they have to protect and serve. The Indiana Sheriffs’ Association should be working to make sure all 92 offices are in this program. If your elected official is not partnering with ICE through 287(g), you should ask them directly why that is.

Madeira told the Caller that she disagrees with the attorney general’s nonbinding advisory opinion because it does not address 8 U.S.C. § 1357. She argued that the statute requires a written agreement between federal immigration authorities and a “State, or any political subdivision of a State” and that, under Indiana law, the relevant political subdivision is the town council, not an individual police department.

Madeira added that Indiana town marshals cannot sign such agreements independently because they derive their authority from the town’s legislative body and are responsible for enforcing its laws.

“If the Attorney General’s letter stands, there is no public record of these funds, no audit trail, no fiscal body approval, and a terrible precedent for other federal agreements,” Madeira said. “Public money requires public oversight. All we’re asking is that this decision be made in the open, by the people who are accountable to Stinesville voters.”

Madeira also cited a case in which the Claypool Town Council voted to suspend its town marshal without pay for five days after he struck a similar deal with DHS without the board’s approval. (RELATED: Heroic Taco Bell Worker Thwarts Would-Be Mass Shooter Allegedly Targeting Place Of Worship)

McGlocklin told the Caller that the board received Rokita’s opinion only at the start of its most recent meeting and had not had time to review it. He said the funding would remain on hold until the town’s attorney could examine the letter.

McGlocklin referred the Caller to town attorney Darla Brown, who did not respond before publication.

Despite the funding dispute, the 287(g) agreement remains in effect, and officers have completed their training despite not yet being reimbursed.

Pittman said fewer than 10 arrests have been made under the program. He added that he is trying to keep his personal views on immigration out of the dispute.

“It’s a money funding issue,” Pittman said.

“My goal is that we can find a way to keep this department going forward, whether that’s 287 or through an action of the state realizing, ‘Hey, they probably cut money from the wrong area, let’s fix that,’” the chief said.

A DHS spokesperson told the Caller that partnerships with local law enforcement are critical to arresting criminal illegal aliens across the country. The spokesperson said the number of 287(g) partnerships has increased by 1,832 percent, reaching 2,608 since the start of President Donald Trump’s second term.

“Seven of the top 10 safest cities in the United States cooperate with ICE,” the spokesperson said. “When politicians bar local law enforcement from working with DHS, our law enforcement officers must have a more visible presence so that we can find and apprehend the criminals let out of jails and back into communities.” (RELATED: ‘Put His 5-Year-Old In Danger’: Mullin Clashes With Margaret Brennan Over ICE Shooting Of Criminal Illegal)

The town’s vote on whether to approve the DHS agreement has been postponed until November, McGlocklin told the Caller.