DENVER — Denver7 has heard from many viewers who are taking notice of a commercial paid for by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that recently began playing on our air and several others across the Denver metro.
The advertisement starts with a narrator saying, "Attention Denver law enforcement," and goes on to invite them to "join ICE."
- Watch the full ad below:
The ads are running in areas that President Donald Trump's administration has previously deemed "sanctuary cities," including Chicago and Los Angeles. But are local law enforcement agencies feeling any impact from that ad, and is there concern that they could lose employees to ICE?
"Recruiting nationally has been a challenge for all law enforcement agencies," said Josh Vasconcellos, the vice president of the Denver Police Protective Association, which represents Denver police officers.
Within the 30-second time slot, ICE's commercial touts a bonus of up to $50,000 and student loan forgiveness for new hires.
Vasconcellos said that while the benefits are appealing, Denver PPA and the city recently entered into a new agreement for officers that he believes will lower turnover and make the department appealing to newcomers.
"I feel we have a very robust benefits package. We have a very competitive salary package, as well," he said.
While Vasconcellos said he is not aware if any officers have resigned to take a job with ICE, at least one other agency has seen a small impact. A spokesperson for the City of Boulder sent Denver7 Investigative a statement that reads in part:
In general, I can say that this is a competitive time within law enforcement. There are many organizations and agencies competing for well-trained and qualified officers.
While recruitment efforts by ICE do not appear to be taking significant hold within the Boulder Police Department, one officer has resigned to accept a position with ICE. We can’t speculate about the impact the advertising is having, or may have, within other agencies.
Denver7 Investigates filed a public records request with the Department of Homeland Security, requesting the total amount of money spent on these ads. We also asked DHS for an interview and other information, including a complete list of where these ads are running. As of Monday evening, DHS has not responded to this request.
Vasconcellos said when deciding between working for local or federal law enforcement agencies, a lot more than money is taken into consideration.
"A lot of people want to police the communities that they live in and serve the communities that they live in," Vasconcellos said. "So I think that gives us an advantage, as well, because the Denver metro area is fairly large, and they want to work for the agencies that they grew up in.”
