03/06/2007
Document outlines costs of training program
By: Gregg MacDonald

A draft of the Herndon Police Department's proposed memorandum of agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was made public last Thursday.
If approved by the Herndon Town Council next week, the agreement will enable selected Herndon police officers to undergo a five-week training program that will eventually empower them to perform certain functions of a federal immigration law enforcement officer.

Council Action

The memorandum of agreement with ICE will be considered for adoption and implementation following a public hearing March 13 at 7 p.m. in council chambers. The document can be viewed in its entirety at www.herndon-va.gov .



ICE agreement revealed
According to town attorney Richard Kaufman, the agreement focuses on officers who are detailed to special operations such as anti-gang and anti-drug units and would authorize specially trained police officers assigned to "operations," a broader category, to also undergo the training.

Kaufman said Monday that the broader category simply means that "any operational officer" of the Herndon Police Department can be considered.

The agreement authorizes up to seven "nominated trained and certified HPD personnel" to undergo the training, which will enable them to interrogate and process "criminal illegal aliens" for immigration violations; to arrest without a warrant anyone unlawfully entering or re-entering the United States after deportation; and charging illegal aliens for detention, transportation and "removal."

Training for the Herndon officers will include immigration law, civil rights law, "measures to counter possible racial profiling," and "cross-cultural issues," according to the draft agreement.

The training could be utilized for felonies and any misdemeanor listed as a Group A offense, as well as driving under the influence of alcohol or drug offenses. However, police functions conducted under the agreement must be performed "under the direct supervision of ICE," the document stated.

According to a Feb. 14 e-mail from Herndon Police Chief Toussaint Summers to Kaufman, obtained by The Times through a Freedom of Information Act request, training and materials will be provided free of charge by ICE but the town will have to pay the participating officers' salaries for the five-week training session.

Summers estimated that the average cost to train one officer at an average hourly wage of $29.50 would be approximately $5,900. For a sergeant at an average hourly wage of $41.78, that cost rises to $8,356.

"If we send six officers ($35,400) and one sergeant ($8,356), the total cost would be $43,766," Summers wrote in the e-mail, adding, "This figure does not take into account the cost of benefits."

The cost of processing illegal aliens, however, will not likely be reimbursed by ICE, according to Kaufman.

"ICE estimates that it will take approximately 3-5 hours for an officer to process a criminal alien," Summers wrote in the same e-mail. "The cost to process each illegal alien would range from a low of $88.50 (3 hours @ officer salary) to a high of $208.90 (5 hours @ sergeant salary)."

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