Ocean City’s police department doesn’t need a federal program, a fax machine or even a phone to share intelligence with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
ICE has an office in the police department’s headquarters.
“We talk to them every day,” said Ocean City Capt. Robert Bokinsky, joking that he could knock on his office wall and an ICE agent would respond. “We have a great relationship that’s all about fighting crime and we find them to be a very willing partner in that.”
The rest of Maryland’s jurisdictions primarily communicate with ICE through the main office in Baltimore, said ICE spokeswoman Gillian Brighman. Ocean City’s ICE agents did not return calls for this story.
Bokinksy said Ocean City’s police department places no restrictions on the type of information officers can share with ICE — or vice versa.
“Certain situations are a no-brainer, and you’re gonna tell ICE,” he said, using violent crime as an example. “It’s their fight to fight.”
But even a routine traffic stop could prompt an officer who has suspicions to talk to an ICE agent, he said.
Two of Ocean City’s police officers work with ICE on a task force to carry out sting operations and nab businesses suspected of employing illegals, he said.
Bokinsky compared his department’s relationship with ICE to Frederick County’s federal 287(g) program, which gives local officers the power to identify, investigate and detain illegal immigrants.
“We’re crime fighters and if somebody happens to be an illegal alien breaking the law we will go at ’em with both barrels,” he said.
