Bristol County Sheriff Paul Heroux believes lack of enough training, investigations, holding people accountable explains fatal incidents involving ICE

In a social media post on Tuesday, Bristol County Sheriff Paul Heroux addressed why he believes people are dying in incidents with ICE despite other law-enforcement agencies dealing with people resisting arrest and interference from the public.

“First. Massachusetts police get 6 months of standard training, FBI and DEA agents get about 20 weeks plus other specialized training, Massachusetts jail corrections officers get 12 weeks.

“Many ICE agents received only 47 days (6.7 weeks) of training, down from 27 weeks they used to get. They were set up to fail.

“This shortened training is ending, which is a welcome recognition that insufficient training was part of the problem.

“Adequate training is what keeps law-enforcement from making mistakes in the first place.

“Second. Investigations and holding people accountable help keep the organization from repeating the same mistake.

“In law enforcement, there is a normal process that follows a ‘use of force’ by an officer or agent.

“We start with the agent often being immediately put on administrative leave.

“An investigation is initiated. It looks at all the circumstances and all evidence. It determines whether use-of-force was appropriate based on the use of force continuum based on all the evidence and circumstances. It asks if the agent deviated from his or her training and/or policy, the specific training and policy is identified and contrasted with the agent’s actions.

“While the investigation is going on, the government should extend sympathies to the family and friends of the deceased. Ask for everyone to be patient. Talk about the process by which agents are trained to use force and under what circumstances. But commenting on innocence/guilt before an investigation is concluded is not normal.

“At the conclusion of the investigation, a report is usually generated. If a report is generated, the people up the chain of command can review the report and only then decide what the appropriate level of punishment is based on past similar situations. It is at this time they also prepare public statements about the findings of the investigation.

“The agent is also presented with the findings and can start to prepare for the consequences if excessive force was used.

“The findings of the investigation should be made public because of the high-profile nature of this incident.

“Only after all of this happens, should the government comment on whether or not the agent acted reasonably.

“This is boring and time consuming, but necessary and appropriate to avoid rush judgments, and to not repeat mistakes.

“If this doesn’t happen, change doesn’t happen.

“The public has a duty to not interfere with law enforcement and not resist arrest, but that doesn’t mean the government can do what it wants. The government must hold itself to a higher standard than the public.

“The legitimacy of law-enforcement depends upon the professional standards of conduct that its officers adhere to, and the manner in which officers are investigated and held accountable when they violated those standards of conduct.

“We cannot break the law to enforce the law.”