Detroit Police Officer Calls Border Patrol During Traffic Stop, Suspended Without Pay
Detroit is the only major U.S. city north of Canada. As a border city, it has a large border patrol presence. In addition, the Detroit Metro Area has some of the largest immigrant communities in the U.S. The Detroit Police Department deals with immigrants and translates for immigrants on a daily basis. But when one police officer decided to call in help from border patrol for some assistance, she got fired.
On February 9th, a Detroit Police Officer got on the radio and requested a supervisor. The officer had completed a traffic stop and the motorist had shown them a photo and an electronic Michigan driver’s license which they believed was fraudulent. At 3:15 p.m., Sergeant Denise Wallet of the Detroit PD responded. She picked up her phone and called U.S. Border Patrol. Border Patrol agents responded to the scene of the traffic stop and arrested the driver “for violation of immigration laws.”
The aftermath of the Detroit Police sergeant calling border patrol
On February 10th, the Detroit PD Chief suspended two officers, including Wallet, with pay. Wallet’s name became public when she sued the department. At first, she said she had just called Border Patrol for translation help because the driver didn’t speak English. Later, during her lawsuit, her lawyer stated she’d called Border Patrol “solely for the purpose of identifying the individual who was in custody, not to enforce immigration law or to inquire into the subject’s immigration status.”
This is important because the suspect was only being investigated for a traffic violation. Extending the investigation to immigration status might be considered unconstitutional, similar to the banned Kansas Two-Step.
Finally, Wallet argued that the phone call had been “at the direction of her lieutenant.”
Bettison later brought the case in front of the Detroit Board of Police Commissioners. He emphasized that the Detroit PD does not perform immigration enforcement and that these officers went way outside the proper channels for contacting federal authorities.
The board voted not to fire Sergeant Wallet. It did escalate her suspension to 30 days without pay. Chief Bettison said, “They’re my oversight board…I respect their roles and their opinions. And when they issued or agreed to suspend the officers for 30 days without pay, I thought that was sufficient. I support them, and I’m satisfied.”
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