Illinois cop fired over social media post telling ICE where to conduct immigration enforcement

The city of Elgin, Illinois, has fired a police officer who made a post on social media suggesting that federal immigration agents should carry out enforcement operations in the city.

In a news release, city officials said an independent investigation determined that Officer Jason Lentz engaged in misconduct related to a post made in October. Lentz was placed on leave after Elgin Police Chief Ana Lalley was made aware of the post, prompting the investigation.

The post in question referred to ICE and included a sarcastic list of locations the officer suggested agents should target, saying, “If I were ICE I wouldn’t check…” followed by the list of places. Lentz added after each recommendation playful comments like “definitely none there” and “there’s no way you’d find any there.” He also tagged the Department of Homeland Security and US Customs and Border Protection.

Investigators concluded that termination was the appropriate disciplinary action, a decision that was approved by the city’s corporation counsel and city manager.

“Lentz’s termination for misconduct is warranted and necessary to uphold standards the community expects and deserves. His actions do not reflect the standards of this agency. I ask the Elgin community to not judge our current and future officers based on the actions of one individual. The department remains committed to working with all members of the community to build lasting and meaningful relationships grounded in respect, understanding, accountability and trust. These values have not, and will not, change,” Lalley said in a statement.

City Manager Rick Kozal also voiced support for the termination.

“I wholly support Chief Lalley’s decision to terminate Lentz as a police officer,” he said. “I was among those in the city administration demanding Lentz’s firing in 2014 for similar misconduct. While an arbitrator ultimately overturned the city’s decision to fire Lentz and impose a six-month suspension instead, Elgin succeeded in establishing precedent for holding police officers accountable for inflammatory social media posts before such disciplinary action became the norm.”