CPD files complaint against Sheriff’s Office

Calexico Police filed a complaint against Imperial County Sheriff’s Office for conducting a traffic operation recently that allegedly put lives at risk.

Calexico Police Chief Reggie Gomez said, “I was at home when I received a telephone call from a Calexico elected official asking me if I was aware that the sheriff’s office, anywhere from ten to twelve marked units, was writing tickets on Imperial Avenue.”

Gomez said ICSO did not notify them of the operation.

He complained to local Border Patrol who manage the Stone Garden funds covering such operations.

“And as federal funding is allotted to the local agencies in Imperial County in the best interest of national security, and I don’t think that’s what happened December second,” Gomez said.

The danger existed because of possible confrontation between Calexico undercover and ICSO officers not knowing what each one was doing, Gomez explained.

“It could have led to some dangers to the public and to the law enforcement officers that were working the detail,” Gomez said.

ICSO Sheriff Raymond Loera said they followed protocol regarding the operation.

“I think that everything we did was within the book and we followed those instructions to the tee,” Loera said.

He said the traffic operation had everything to do with national security.
“Drugs and trafficking of people – persons – all require transportation,” Loera said.

Chief Gomez and Sheriff Loera agree that police work should follow procedure to ensure public safety and for law enforcement agencies to work in harmony.

“In my early career I worked in Calexico for three years myself. And there is no animosity,” Loera said.