ICE in Minneapolis: cold truths

ICE needs a reset.  A tactical pause.  I support ICE and their stated mission.  That being said, Minnesota is currently out of control and ICE is not completely blameless.  I do not know Greg Bovino, the Agent in Charge for the Border Patrol’s operations in Minneapolis and other areas.  I’ve never met him nor do I know anyone who knows him.  I’ve never done any work with ICE in my 28 years in law enforcement.  I’m not familiar with their inner workings or TTP’s.  All this comes from a place of ignorance, which means the best thing to do is probably to keep my thoughts to myself.  Well, I’ve never been known for that.

First, my initial impression of Bovino is that he is good at what he does, is purpose driven, but also that he may enjoy his time in front of the cameras a little too much.  The manner in which ICE is conducting operations seems to almost be inviting conflict.  Whoever is in charge of Operational Planning for these missions is failing miserably.  This is why a tactical pause and reset is definitely necessary and appropriate.  ICE needs a new approach.  For mission efficiency purposes, for safety purposes, and to start winning the public relations battle.

There appears to be no operational security at all at ICE.  If you can’t go on a raid or operation without 100 protestors meeting you, or beating you there, you’re doing something terribly wrong.  Why do protestors keep showing up at ICE operations?  How do they know where these operations are occurring and when?   If it is a matter of them following the agents around, why aren’t the agents engaging in counter measures to address that?  Can these federal agents not shake a tail of soccer moms in minivans? Can the agents not adjust how they do things to maintain a lower profile?  Can they not designate some vehicles whose sole job is to obstruct the vehicles following the agents? Does ICE have any undercovers inside the protest movement giving them information? Because it seems, so far, the protestors are winning the intelligence war.

Adjustments need to be made.  Especially in Minneapolis where the local police department is offering no help due to a Chief of Police that has abandoned his ethics, duty, and common sense.  A Police Chief who stands next to the mayor as he demonizes the federal law enforcement officers.   A Police Chief that is apparently too stupid to realize that same Mayor will target him next the instant it becomes politically beneficial to do so.

The protestors will always be there.  ICE is the flavor of the month.  The same people were out there two weeks ago protesting against the action in Venezuela, before that they were out there for Palestine, before that they were out there for No Kings, before that they were out there for $15 an hour minimum  wage, before that they were out there for trans rights, before that they were out there for abortion rights, before that they were out there for George Floyd, before that Stockley, before that Michael Brown, it goes on and on.  It’s the same people protesting for the sake of protesting.  They don’t care one bit about whatever cause happens to written on their signs this week.  Protesting is their vocation.  Their job is to incite and bait.  And ICE is falling for the bait far too often. 

My advice to ICE after years of working protests and riots, take a tactical pause.  Bring in fresh sets of eyes to conduct your mission planning.  Train your agents in street officer critical skills to minimize uses of force.  Bring in DEA and ATF agents to assist with counter surveillance.  Find a way to shake the tail of soccer moms in minivans.   Demonstrate the ability and willingness to shift tactics and approaches in a way that still allows you to complete your mission, but in a way that minimizes the interference of agitators and potential for confrontations that can lead to ugly incidents.  Ugly incidents that are justified, but just add fuel to an already raging fire.

While tactics should never be dictated by optics, they should be dictated by operational effectiveness.  I have a hard time believing that ICE is currently operating at maximum effectiveness under their current state of operating procedures.  There has to be a better way.

Perhaps they are already doing these things and I just don’t know it because I don’t know what I’m talking about.  If that’s the case, my ideas aren’t working either, so try something else. 

I feel, for the most part, the public is still on ICE’s side.  But the protestors are patient, persistent, and a little mentally unbalanced.  They have time on their hands and money backing them.  They can turn the tide of public opinion with the support they are getting from agenda driven politicians.  If ICE wants to stay out in front of this, they need to learn to adapt.