Fact Sheet

Eureka’s board of Community Oversight on Police Practices (COPP) is charged with “… involving the community in the creation of policing standards and expectations.” Community members want COPP to establish standards for the ways EPD should protect the public when federal law enforcement conducts operations in our city.

Who We Are:

A “courage collective” of area residents, opposed to the spread of authoritarianism, organized to nonviolently encourage noncooperation and resistance among local law enforcement agencies to illegal and unconstitutional acts by the federal government.

Why We’re Here:

Eureka’s COPP panel holds its quarterly meeting at City Hall at 3:30 p.m. on Jan. 27. We can line up to speak during their Public Comment period, and tell them specific policies, procedures, training or other standards that we want the Eureka Police to follow
if federal officers show up here.

Why now?

The time to fix a roof is before the storm. We’ve all seen the federal invasion and brutality inflicted on so many US cities. Local police forces have been caught in situations they never expected or trained for, leaving them vulnerable, pressured from all sides, and confused about what’s expected of them. In this time of growing national crisis, 1) Eureka’s officers deserve to know what the community expects of them, and 2) the community deserves to know, now, what our police would really do to protect us from masked criminals in federal uniforms.

Aren’t we already a “sanctuary city?”

Sanctuary laws tell local police not to assist federal immigration enforcement. But they address only one part of the problem. The conduct of federal officers in city after city goes far beyond any resonable concept of immigration enforcement, with excessive force and illegal searches against US citizens and nonviolent protesters as well as immigrants. A massive, militarized and politicized national police force that’s accountable to no one but Donald Trump is being built and deployed before our eyes. The question now is whether our cities and states will use the powers they already have to maintain the rule of law.

Aren’t federal officers “immune” from local law enforcement?

Local police in other cities have justified passivity toward ICE attacks by saying they can’t “interfere” with US officers. Legal experts say federal agents can face arrest or prosecution under state law if they commit crimes that fall outside their official duties, for example: excessive force, assault, or other criminal acts unrelated to enforcing immigration law.

What We Want

Eureka’s board of Community Oversight on Police Practices (COPP) is charged with “… involving the community in the creation of policing standards and expectations.” Community members want COPP to establish standards for the ways EPD should protect the public when federal law enforcement conducts operations in our city.

1. Treat any 911 call requesting help due to actions by federal law enforcement in the city as a Priority 1 call.
2. Recommend to EPD that officers verify the identity of federal agents at the scene of suspected immigration enforcement actions.
3. At the scene: Request a federal supervisor if one is not present.
4. At the scene: Verify the credentials of the lead agent or supervisor if federal agents are not clearly identified.
5. At the scene: Capture the verification process on body-worn camera to ensure transparency.
6. Issue clear guidance that EPD officers are authorized to take enforcement action — including detention or arrest — if they have probable cause to determine a federal officer has committed a state crime.
7. Issue guidance to EPD that, in the event of enforcement activity under state law against a federal agent, EPD should follow its standard protocols to secure the scene, collect evidence and investigate — and not allow any evidence to be removed, tampered with or destroyed, even by the FBI.
8. Enforce any future city ordinances that prohibit DHS from using city-owned property. (“ICE-free zones”).
9. California’s no-mask law for officers is in effect; only enforcement is on hold pending court review. Use this time to issue guidance now for how EPD should enforce it.
10. This is a weekday afternoon meeting that’s hard for working families to attend. Give the full cross-section of our community a chance to say how EPD should protect us from illegal federal violence, by holding an evening public hearing on this issue within the next 45 days.