photo credit: Santa Rosa Police Department
Santa Rosa Police Chief John Cregan, right, at a recent community meeting. 

The Santa Rosa Police Department says residents in immigrant communities are increasingly afraid to call police, and officials warn that fear could affect public safety across the city. KRCB News sits down with Santa Rosa Police Chief John Cregan to discuss this issue.

 SHANDRA BACK/KRCB NEWS: You said that federal immigration actions are having real consequences here locally. What does that look like on the ground?

JOHN CREGAN: I think in the last 18 months, you've seen a huge decrease in the trust, especially in our immigrant community. And the biggest thing that I'm seeing is fear in the community.

There still is a genuine distrust about law enforcement, collaborating with federal agencies, doing immigration enforcement, sharing information or data with ICE, and believing all law enforcement is the same.

But yet, there's such a huge distinction between state law enforcement, federal law enforcement, and local law enforcement, and even a huge difference between local law enforcement and police officers and a county sheriff.

We're all very, very unique agencies with our own directives, our own leadership, our own cultures, and in the community, many times people don't understand that and don't truly believe that.

We're also seeing our police officers getting confused as ICE agents and community members saying, "Get out of here, ICE."  They're having fear and the officers are kind of on the defense like, "hey, we're not ICE."

BACK: Another question I had was about relationships with ICE in the past and to now. In your time with the Santa Rosa Police Department, how has that evolved?

CREGAN: One thing I think that's really important to understand is as much attention that immigration enforcement is getting, local police officers have never been involved with immigration enforcement. I started in 1999 as a police officer, and from 1999 to now, never once, have I seen a local police officer ask immigration enforcement, arrest someone or detain them for their immigration status. It's completely separate and distinct.

I think right now it's been so much more focused on more assertive and proactive ICE enforcement that it's led a little bit more to some of these huge concerns in the community and it's certainly driven some of the distrust in local law enforcement. Trust in law enforcement is like a roller coaster ride. There's highs when things are going well and there's deep deep lows.

And a lot of times those lows happen with things that are happening not only here locally in Sonoma County, but even across the nation. My concern as chief is: Is this fear in the community going to have community members who are reluctant to reach out to law enforcement when they're in need?

BACK: Can you speak about how that fear might be affecting people's willingness to call 911 or report crimes that you've noticed or that your officers have reported?

CREGAN: I've seen it for first hand in my experience. Community members that have distrust and fear of reporting law enforcement, and then what I see is them more likely to be victimized. Because guess what, predators they seize on those opportunities. I reaffirm some of our principles of Senate Bill 54. Santa Rosa police officers, by following the law, are not going to be asking immigration questions or certainly detaining anyone for an immigrant status.

BACK: What do you want the greater community to understand at this moment?

CREGAN: I think the most important thing to understand is that the Santa Rosa police department is here to serve you. And that's really important to me that everyone in Santa Rosa, regardless of your immigration status, regardless of your past interactions with our criminal justice system, that you feel like I can call the Santa Rosa police department and I'm going to get treated with the same dignity, respect that anyone else in our community is treated with too.

And my job as chief is to make sure to kind of be standing at the mountain top shouting that. That's what we're here to serve.

Editor's Note: To see more of our reporting on trust between immigrant communities and local law enforcement, visit our Immigration News tab.