Five Carbondale community members urged the Carbondale Board of Trustees on Tuesday to withdraw from Special Problems Enforcement and Response (SPEAR), a local interagency task force that has been accused of working with Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE).
At the heart of their argument was the potential for data sharing between the task force and federal agencies such as Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and ICE, which, they said, aids immigration enforcement in local communities.
Some of the public comments urging Carbondale to withdraw from SPEAR included:
Carbondalian Debbie Bruell
Bruell voiced her concerns about the potential of data sharing between SPEAR, HSI and ICE, though she acknowledged that Carbondale Police Chief Kirk Wilson and Town Manager Ryan Hyland told her Carbondale Police wouldn’t intentionally share information with those agencies.
“What concerns me is that just being a member of SPEAR along with HSI allows HSI to access Carbondale data without Carbondale police knowing it,” Bruell said. “Basically, I’m concerned that our local police force can’t control what data HSI can and cannot access, and what they do with that data.”
Bruell acknowledged her understanding that Chief Wilson doesn’t think HSI can access local police data and said she is “certainly no expert” in police data systems. She did say, however, that she spoke with two highly qualified attorneys who said it’s “very likely” that the data can be accessed by HSI.
She also reminded the trustees that Carbondale Police could be fined $50,000 for passing along personal information to federal immigration enforcement agents, under Colorado law.
Eden Steele
Steele has lived just outside of Carbondale for the past 25 years. She reiterated some of Bruell’s concerns about the potential for Carbondale Police to lose control of their data once it’s in the SPEAR database.
“I would urge each of you to fully understand the information sharing system and to be transparent with the public about it,” she told the trustees.
She also referenced a cease-and-desist letter issued to Garfield County Sheriff Lou Vallario in February from Towards Justice, accusing the Garfield County Sheriff’s Office and SPEAR of violating Colorado law by collaborating with ICE and making information available to them.
Steele quoted the letter:
“When residents, including citizens and non-citizens alike, fear that contact with local law enforcement could lead to collateral civil immigration consequences, they are less likely to report crimes, cooperate as witnesses or provide critical information during investigations.”
The letter alleged that SPEAR “creates a pipeline through which local law enforcement data, including non-public [personal identifying information], is rapidly consolidated and accessible to HSI,” which it said gives unrestricted access to ICE.
In a letter released in late March, Vollario denied the claims that SPEAR and the Sheriff’s Department work with or provide information to ICE.
Town response
Hyland said he and Chief Wilson are looking forward to having a full conversation with the board to cover the “technical, legal, operational” components of SPEAR, and are awaiting a new draft of a Memorandum of Understanding clarifying that SPEAR will not enforce immigration law.
He also invited the public to return for an anticipated public meeting in August to discuss Carbondale’s involvement with SPEAR.
“It is going to be a collective, I think, conversation with staff, the public, the board [to] make sure we all have a comfort level with whatever those changes are, whatever those protections are — again technical, operational and legal,” he said of the Memorandum of Understanding.
In other news …
The trustees rejected a developer’s request to construct a three-story, mixed use commercial building at 242-256 Main Street — directly east of the Village Smithy — that would exceed standard building regulations in height and dimension. The developers, Carbondale-based architecture firm Forum Phi and local contracting company Smith Mountain Builders, had requested they exceed the 35-foot height limits and lower the ground level, floor-to-floor height below the standard 14 feet. The trustees were interested in an alternative design proposed by the developers that aligned with the standard town building regulations for the zone, and continued the discussion to Aug. 25.