In our modern digital landscape, professional policing faces an unprecedented and corrosive burden: the “digital-to-federal feedback loop”
This has been fueled by online radicals and viral misinformation. Sophisticated social media influencers now manufacture “fake news” narratives—such as the recent debunked claims of systemic daycare fraud in Minneapolis—to provide a primary political justification for aggressive federal policy shifts. When these unverified viral videos are amplified by high-profile figures and federal cabinet members, they transform dehumanizing rhetoric into concrete, localized retaliation, forcing local chiefs to manage not only the safety of their streets but also the fallout of state-sponsored fear.
American policing has reached a critical juncture where local law enforcement must serve as one of the final “guardrails” of our democracy. We are entering a period where silence is no longer caution; it is surrender. Across the country, federal immigration enforcement is increasingly relying on “spectacle over safety,” utilizing masked, unidentifiable agents and tactics that thrive on secrecy and intimidation. When local police allow these agents to operate within their jurisdictions using methods that violate basic norms of transparency, the fundamental trust between the community and the law collapses.
In my own community of Madison, Wisconsin, we are in the process of building a model we hope will resonate across the country. Our coalition of peace, justice, and faith-based organizations is calling for local police leaders to standup and be counted. We are not asking for radical subversion; we will be calling for our local police leaders and sheriff to affirm their oaths of office and Police Code of Ethics by protecting all residents—regardless of immigration status—as the Constitution requires.
Specifically, we expect them to uphold three specific pillars of accountability:
- Document and Report: Actively monitor and record federal operations to ensure full transparency.
- Intervene: Exercise the “duty-to-intervene” when people are being physically abused or when detentions lack proper judicial authorization.
- Pursue Accountability: Support the pursuit of state criminal charges against any agents who act outside the scope of their legal authority.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara has already created a national blueprint for this “Accountability with Dignity”. By issuing a stern directive that officers must intervene against unlawful federal force or face termination, O’Hara has proven that public safety and human dignity are not in conflict. He has humanized the badge by visiting houses of worship weekly and invoking moral narratives—comparing modern immigrants to the Nativity story—to emphasize that legitimacy, not fear, is the true foundation of public safety.
Minneapolis and Madison cannot stand alone. We are calling upon police leaders cities across the country to develop their own localized, non-violent methods of resistance to federal overreach. We must create a national network to share these strategies, ensuring that no community has to reinvent the wheel of constitutional defense.
In an autocracy, enforcers operate in the shadows—masked and unaccountable – spawning fear. They rely on this to govern. In a free society, those locally charged with enforcing the rules must be visible, build trust, and be held to our laws. By demanding that our local police hold the line, we ensure that the “police” uniform remains a symbol of constitutional protection rather than an instrument of its erosion.
History will not ask whether this moment was comfortable for us. It will ask whether our local police leaders did their duty when it mattered most and we supported them.
Improving Police: A Necessary Conversation 