Dallas police chief addresses immigration, felony warrant enforcement

Dallas police chief Daniel Comeaux: FULL INTERVIEW

New Dallas Police Chief Daniel Comeaux sits down with FOX 4's Steven Dial to talk about his first week on the job.

DALLAS - The new Dallas police chief will be formally sworn in on Monday, along with the new fire chief.

But first, Chief Daniel Comeaux shared his opinions on immigration enforcement and tracking down people with felony warrants.

DPD and Immigration

Dallas Police Chief Daniel Comeaux talks immigration

The new Dallas police chief will be formally sworn in on Monday, along with the new fire chief. But first, Chief Daniel Comeaux shared his opinions on immigration enforcement and tracking down people with felony warrants.

What is DPD’s role in federal immigration enforcement?

"We're not out searching for illegal immigrants from the Dallas Police Department. However, like I said, we will work with our federal partners and assist when needed," Chief Comeaux said.

The direction from the White House is a bit different than the past administration when it comes to immigration enforcement. What role do you think Dallas police should play or will play when it comes to immigration enforcement in Dallas?

"When it comes to immigration, look, we have no programs here where we're gone out initiating a program looking for immigrants. However, we will work shoulder to shoulder with all of our federal partners if they need our assistance," he said.

What would you say to someone who may be afraid because the national tenor or tone has changed when it comes to undocumented persons? What would your message be to someone to still come forward if they have information that can help investigators? 

"Look, we need information to keep everyone safe, and that's what's so important, right? When you see something, you should say something, and anyone that has information, we want and need that information to do our job," he said.

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Felony Warrants

How is DPD increasing enforcement when it comes to tracking down people with felony warrants?

"We have Operation Justice Trail right now, and we're looking for anybody that has felony warrants. So, we have extra officers on the ground right now on the streets looking for everybody that has a felony warrant," the chief said.

What do you mean? Can you go into detail?

"Well, look, if you're wanted by any state, any county, if you have been arrested and you have a warrant out for your arrest, we're doing extra work to find you right now. So, be quite honest, be nice if you turn yourself in. Because if not, it might be us at six in the morning knocking on your door," he said.

Is that an area that may have taken a backseat in the past from you're just looking at the department and looking at how you want to move forward?

"Look, I believe those who have felony warrants out there are more likely to commit crimes than say somebody rolling down the street with loud music. So, because of that, we're gonna target these individuals that have felony warrants to make sure we take them into custody," he said.