Hennepin County Sheriff: ICE needs to 'follow the law'

Hennepin County Sheriff on ICE in Minnesota

Hennepin County Sheriff Dawanna Witt is reacting to the ICE surge in Minnesota.

(FOX 9) - Hennepin County Sheriff Dawanna Witt called out the actions of some ICE officers during an interview on FOX 9 All Day, saying she's seen and heard accounts of agents using excessive force and racial profiling.

ICE needs to ‘follow the law’

What they're saying:

Speaking on FOX 9 All Day, Sheriff Witt says some of the tactics being used by some ICE agents are making other agents and law enforcement look bad.

"When we think about the fact that we are here trying to build and rebuild trust in some areas, when an officer, an agent, anybody in law enforcement oversteps that threshold, we all pay the price for it," said the sheriff. "And that's not fair. It's not right."

The sheriff says she's seen and heard accounts of ICE officers using excessive force and racial profiling.

"The stereotyping is getting ridiculous," said the sheriff. "There are some agents that have used excessive force. We do know that racial profiling has been going on, and it needs to stop. It just needs to stop."

Big picture view:

The sheriff also called on ICE officers to reign in their behavior.

"We have a saying that nobody hates a bad cop more than a good cop," Sheriff Witt told FOX 9. "And so we need people to be professional. We need them to follow the law. We need to make sure that they are acting within the lines and the scope of their law enforcement duties. And if you're not going to do it for anyone else, do it for your partners in this profession. It is a noble profession, and we need people to do the job right. We need to treat people with dignity and respect."

Sheriff calls for unity

Local perspective:

Speaking on the political landscape, the sheriff says she thinks leaders need to stop treating politics like a sports game.

"I've been in this profession for quite some time and never did I think that we would be in the position that we are," said Sheriff Witt. "But what we need are people in leadership roles to come together, have those conversations. Let's stop with the one side has to win all — that's not where we're at. It doesn't matter — as far as political views — doesn't matter which side of the fence you are on. What matters is, there are people when you took that oath, when I took that oath, when any elected official has taken that oath. We agree to represent everyone and even those that do not have the same train of thought or lived experiences or any of that. We took on the responsibility to make sure that we are here for everyone, and we need more people to come to the table and agree with that, and have a conversation so that we can keep our community safe."