Move to Limit SDPD Participation on Task Forces Hard to Evaluate as SDPD Refuses to Explain What It Does Now

This post has been updated.

Like many local law enforcement agencies, the San Diego Police Department joins forces with the feds to crack down on criminal organizations. Just last year, officers were part of a federal task force investigation that led to the arrest of 20 people involved in the illegal drug trade. 

Next week, the San Diego City Council will consider prohibiting the city’s police department from participating on task forces with federal enforcement officers and demand more disclosure on others.  

But we don’t exactly know what impact this may have because we don’t know what the San Diego police does with federal task forces. Police department leadership is refusing to say. 

On Friday afternoon, after this article published, SDPD provided a list of federal task forces the department has been a part so far in 2025. A spokesperson also provided a comment.

“As the article was originally portrayed, SDPD did not provide comment because we did not want to get ahead of the discussion on the proposed ordinance at City Council,” said spokesperson Ashley Nicholes. 

“Task forces are used for a number of reasons that greatly benefit public safety on issues like human trafficking, narcotics, and people preying on children online just to name a few. Collaboration between law enforcement agencies help us coordinate resources that one agency alone wouldn’t have. We look forward to continued work on task forces that keeps San Diego one of the safest big cities in the nation.”  

Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera, who is proposing the change, and immigration activists are concerned about the collaboration between local police and federal authorities.  

“I want us to have a better understanding of what is happening in federal task forces,” said Councilmember Elo-Rivera in an interview with Voice of San Diego.  

“I recognize the importance of doing what we can to ensure people who are committing terrible crimes do not have safe harbor in San Diego. However, I’m deeply distrustful of this federal government,” he said.  

Others say the task forces are crucial, and they’re worried the city may overreach and threaten key law enforcement efforts.  

Federal task forces join resources from multiple agencies such as state, local and federal authorities to conduct investigations and arrests. State law requires law enforcement agencies to collect and report task force participation, arrests made and if any arrests were made related to immigration enforcement. 

That law, known as SB 54, also requires agencies to report the number of transfers they make to immigration authorities and prohibits local police departments from investigating, detaining, or arresting people solely based on their immigration status. The law prohibits local authorities from joining task forces where the primary purpose is immigration enforcement.  

Local agencies participate in task forces that focus on violent crimes, terrorism, narcotics, sexual offender management and more. The task forces share information with each other and sometimes coordinate and collaborate on operations to identify or detain suspects. 

Councilmember Elo-Rivera will introduce a proposed ordinance on Monday, Oct. 20, to bar the city from participating in federal task forces that involve any kind of immigration enforcement action, or other enforcement activity that investigates a protected personal characteristic such as someone’s political affiliations or sexual orientation.  

He also wants the City Council to receive an annual report of the police department’s participation on federal task forces, to understand what types of investigations they participate in, and the amount of police personnel hours and city funds allocated towards task force participation. 

Currently, San Diego police do not individually report the task forces they sit on. So, we only know the ones they participate in through the County Sheriff’s Office report to the state each year.  

In 2024, officers with the San Diego Police Department participated in 11 federal task forces, according to a San Diego County Sheriff’s office report.  

Under SB 54, if multiple California agencies participate in a task force, the state requires only one California agency of that task force to submit to the Department of Justice on behalf of the whole task force.  

Activists say they don’t have the full picture of the police department’s role, which raises concerns about what other task forces local cops could participate in.   

“We don’t know anything other than what the Sheriff reports,” said Erin Tsurumoto Grassi, associate director from Alliance San Diego, in a statement. 

The San Diego Police Department does not report any of their task force involvement publicly. California agencies are required to share that information with the Department of Justice, but not with the public.  

If a local agency believes the disclosure of a task force would endanger an investigation or people involved in an investigation, they must disclose that information to the Department of Justice. Then, it’s up to the attorney general to determine whether the details of the task force should be public. 

The San Diego Police Department declined a request for comment. 

Activists say task forces can be used as a “loophole” for federal authorities to request someone’s immigration status or carry out immigration enforcement using local law enforcement officers. They fear these actions could lead to deportations.  

“One way this could happen is through collateral arrests when a task force is doing an operation and then a federal immigration agency will arrest others in the surrounding area that have nothing to do with the actual operation,” said Tsurumoto Grassi. 

The San Diego County’s Sheriff’s Office 2024 report does not list any collateral arrests for that year. 

Tsurumoto Grassi pointed to the Sheriff’s participation on a joint task force in 2017 where two individuals were detained by Border Patrol. She didn’t know of any examples involving the San Diego Police Department. 

Councilmember Elo-Rivera’s ordinance would uphold SB 54’s ban on participation on federal task forces that participate in immigration enforcement. He would also prohibit task forces that engage “in part” with some level of immigration enforcement.  

The same goes for protected characteristics of a person, such as their political affiliation. For example, local police could not participate in a task force to investigate a person for their participation in a protest opposing President Donald Trump. 

Elo-Rivera wants to anticipate the show of force that could come from the federal government. 

“When we hear the Trump administration and the leaders of that regime saying what they intend to do, who they intend to target…” said Elo-Rivera. “I don’t feel like it is responsible to sit and wait for those scenarios to start playing out in San Diego before we take action.” 

The ordinance focuses on limiting local cops’ involvement based on the purpose and conduct of the operation, not simply the agencies involved.  

So, for example, the San Diego County Sheriff’s report said the San Diego Police Department participates in a task force with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) focused on narcotics enforcement. Since it’s unrelated to immigration status and personal characteristics, the police department can participate in the task force. 

The ordinance would put limitations on task forces to try and close the “loophole” activists are concerned about, and ensure no arrests are made based on immigration status or personal characteristics. 

But it wouldn’t limit collaboration between local law enforcement and federal authorities altogether.  

Councilmember Elo-Rivera said he does not want to limit public safety collaboration on other matters.  

In 2024, no immigration transfers or arrests happened due to joint task forces.

Separately, the County Sheriff’s Office reported 31 transfers to immigration custody from jails. All of them had prior convictions or charges.  

Nineteen of those included high level criminal offenses, such as the sale or transportation of drugs, or assault with a deadly weapon.  

Eleven of those are listed as criminal federal warrants. The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department said 10 of those were already in the Sheriff’s custody on state charges. While in custody, they were all issued federal warrants to be deported.  

One of those individuals was in custody from a local Superior Court case and was also issued a federal warrant to be deported. 

Restricting San Diego police officers’ participation on these task forces worries some local cops. The San Diego’s Police Officers’ Association (POA) is ready to oppose the new ordinance if its leadership decides it hurts their ability to do important work.  

“These task forces save lives and bring the worst of the worst to justice by fighting terrorism, violent crime, and deadly drugs like fentanyl,” said Jared Wilson, president of the POA, in a statement.  

“We are still conducting a thorough legal review to understand ramifications of this ordinance. However, it is unclear how this ordinance is to be enforced, and the SDPOA has initial concerns about the impacts on critical federal task forces,” he added.  

It’s unclear if Councilmember Elo-Rivera’s action on federal task forces will protect anyone, given the little information regarding San Diego’s police departments own involvement on forces.  

“Transparency is important, if you want trust, you have to be transparent and accountable,” said Tsurumoto Grassi.  

Oct. 17 correction: This post has been updated to correct that no immigration transfers or arrests happened due to joint task forces.

Oct. 17 update: SDPD provided a comment and a list of federal task forces the department has been a part of so far this year. We provided more information here.

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