By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com
ICE plans to offer a “Citizens Academy” to give the public a better understanding of how the agency operates.
The pilot program is set to begin this fall in Chicago this fall and will be run by ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations, Yahoo News first reported. If it’s successful, ICE will offer the academy nationwide.
In the six-week program, “participants will gain insight into the many facets and responsibilities of ICE/ERO operations” through, among other things, “scenario-based training and exercises conducted in a safe and positive environment, including, but not limited to, defensive tactics, firearms familiarization, and targeted arrests.”
The idea is to build trust in the community by showing the public the ins and outs of ICE’s operations.
“ICE is not training the public to do the work of trained federal law enforcement officers,” Nicole Alberico, a spokeswoman for ICE’s Chicago field office, says. “In fact, we hope by showing members of the community ICE’s process — the why and how an immigration arrest is made — will alleviate fear and misunderstanding of exactly what ICE does.”
