As the divisive ICE presence in Minnesota continues, calls for local action around federal immigration enforcement are growing in Front Range communities.
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"What we are seeing in Minneapolis is really scary, and I'm really just urging you to be proactive, we need you to be proactive," said Fort Collins resident Dori Mann during a recent city council meeting.
Mann was one of several community members to express concern over what increased ICE activity would look like in Fort Collins and wanted to know what actions city leaders and law enforcement were taking to protect people.
Mann was specifically considered about the city's use of Flock surveillance and how it might be used by ICE to target people of color.
"I'm scared with this administration...what we could accidentally do to our neighbors in our community," Mann said. She urged the city to "dig into" the rules around storing and sharing information to make sure it wouldn't be weaponized.
Flock cameras are surveillance tools used by law enforcement to capture license plate information. They've become a flash point amid the Trump Administration's immigration enforcement surge, seen as a possible means for federal agents to track and locate people for deportation. Colorado law prohibits the sharing of personal driving data without a warrant.
Fort Collins Police Chief Jeff Swoboda said that using the camera system is a balancing act. He doesn't want the technology to hurt trust with the community. Several people who spoke at the meeting called for the city's Flock contract to be cancelled.
Police will be participating in a city council work session on Flock later this month.
During the council meeting, Swoboda broadly addressed how local law enforcement would approach ICE activity.
"Just difficult to say what we're going to do, depending on what we see - what we've seen on TV though is troubling - and so what we have committed to is to show up on those calls for service and protect people," Swoboda said.
ICE and Flock surveillance also came up during a recent town hall in Boulder with Police Chief Stephen Redfern.
