The FBI is urging partner agencies to “adequately identify themselves” amid a string of cases in which those impersonating U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers committed crimes, such as kidnapping and assault.
“Due to the recent increase in ICE enforcement actions across the country, criminal actors are using ICE’s enhanced public profile and media coverage to their advantage to target vulnerable communities and commit criminal activity. This not only effects the victims and communities but also has broader negative consequences on law enforcement agencies,” the FBI wrote in a bulletin.
The bulletin lists five instances in which someone impersonated an ICE officer, in some cases to commit violent crimes.
In August in New York, three men robbed a restaurant and tied up its staff, with the victims initially surrendering to the robbers because they identified themselves as ICE officers.
In April in Florida, a man kidnapped a woman who agreed to leave with someone posing as an ICE officer, only to be taken to an apartment complex where she escaped.
In Brooklyn in February, a man posing as an ICE officer directed a woman to a stairwell where he punched her and then tried to rape her, ultimately fleeing the scene with her purse and cell phone.
And in January in North Carolina, a man posing as an ICE officer entered a woman’s hotel room and sexually assaulted her, saying he would deport her if she did not have sex with him.
The bulletin said law enforcement officers of all stripes need to “adequality identify themselves during operations and cooperate with individuals who request further verification, such as calling their local precinct to verify the officer’s identity.”