LAPD Chief Michel Moore talks with the I-Team about the firearm laws that create complications for several new officers who are in the U.S. under the DACA program.
The LAPD plans to adjust its policies this week to empower some of its newest officers, who are also DACA recipients, to possess their department-issued firearms while off duty.
Federal law would generally prohibit such a person, who's in the U.S. under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals immigration policy, from possessing a gun or ammunition, but by LAPD making their off-hours part of the, "performance of their official duties or other law enforcement purpose," these officers would be allowed to carry their guns while away from work, according to a new policy memo.
"We've sought information from our federal and state and City attorney to understand what does the policy needs to discuss to articulate the basis of which a DACA individual, now a police officer, can lawfully carry and possess a firearm and ammunition," LAPD Chief Michel Moore told the I-Team.
Federal and state law allow for DACA individuals who are not US residents or citizens to possess firearms, as long as it's within the course and scope of their law enforcement work, officials explained.
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Without the policy change officers who are DACA recipients might have been required to leave Department-issued firearms at police stations when they left work each day, rather than carrying them off-duty for personal protection.
"When these current individuals who are DACA recipients graduate from the academy," the Chief said, "it would be appropriate for us to have a written policy that clearly defines what their authorities and responsibilities are, given their position as a police officer."
The Board of Police Commissioners, the oversight panel that sets LAPD policy, is set to discuss Tuesday the specific rule changes to allow DACA officers to take their firearms home, under the theory that because full-time police officers are considered under California law to be peace officers at all times, even off-duty time is part of a 'law enforcement purpose.'
The requirement for California law enforcement officers to be U.S. citizens was removed when state senate bill 960 was signed into law in September, 2022, and now only requires that officers be, 'legally authorized to work in the United States.'
DACA provides protection from deportation for nearly 600,000 people who were brought to the U.S. without legal status before the age of 16 and who've lived in the U.S. continuously since 2007, however, it is not itself a type of legal residency, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Colorado passed a law in April that made similar accommodations that allows DACA recipients to become police officers and possess firearms in the course of their work.
