Beyond 287(g): Immigration, Community Trust, Public Safety, and Local Law Enforcement Accountability

As immigration enforcement partnerships continue to expand, communities and local governments face increasingly complex questions about public safety, civil rights, legal liability, and community trust. This panel brings together law enforcement leaders, policy experts, advocates, and legal professionals to discuss the realities of 287(g), lessons learned from communities across the country, and practical strategies for fostering safety while protecting constitutional rights.

Participant Takeaways

• Understand how 287(g) operates in practice

• Recognize legal and liability implications for local governments

• Learn strategies for maintaining community trust

• Identify resources available to impacted residents

• Explore alternatives and best practices for community-centered public safety

This panel discussion is ideal for

• Police Chiefs and Sheriffs

• Mayors, City Council Members, and County Commissioners

• Municipal Attorneys and Civil Rights Attorneys

• Community and Faith Leaders

• Higher Education and K-12 Administrators

• Nonprofit Leaders Serving Immigrant Communities

Panelist:

Robert Stewart, Ret.

Bob Stewart is a longtime student of policing, police practices expert and facilitator/instructor. He is the CEO of Bobcat Consulting LLC and the Director of Policing With Our Community (PWOC)© LLC. P

 Bob graduated from Howard University, honorably served in the US Army and started his career in the Washington, DC Metropolitan Police Department. He was fortunate to have a great balance of operational and administrative assignments and attended the FBI National Academy. In his last post at MPD, he managed the department’s promotional processes. His graduate studies were at the University of the District of Columbia and American, George Washington and Florida State Universities.

 He held executive, director or chief duties in Tallahassee and Ormond Beach Florida departments; Louisville Metro, Rutgers (Newark) and Camden Police Departments and Executive Director of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE). Through PWOC©, Bob’s work focuses on helping mid-size police departments and their communities transform community policing into police-community engagement. He has consulted nationally and internationally with an expansive number of law enforcement agencies.

 Bob has served on consent decree monitoring teams in Ferguson, MO., Newark, NJ, the US Virgin Islands, and was the monitor of a settlement agreement in Hobbs, NM. He has been retained as an expert witness in a number of civil rights cases. He served in hostile workplace cases in the Hobbs, NM, and University of Washington police departments. He served as an expert in the notable immigration and discriminatory policing companion cases, Melendres v. Arpaio and Mora v. Arpaio. “Elements of these two cases were a forecast and warning about aggressive local immigration enforcement tied to agreements with ICE. This was bound to happen,”

 Bob is a member of PERF, NABCJ, and is a Police Futures Fellow. He’s a life member of NOBLE, IACP and Omega Psi Phi Fraternity.

Capt. Sonia Pruitt, Ret.

Sonia Y. W. Pruitt retired from the Montgomery County Police Department in Maryland after 28 years, where she became the first African American woman to attain the rank of Captain. Before her retirement in 2020, she served as Director of the Community Engagement Division. Sonia holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice, and a Master of Arts degree in Forensic Psychology, and is currently pursuing a doctorate in Criminal Justice with a specialization in Policing. Sonia is the Founder of The Black Police Experience, which promotes the education and history of the intersection of law enforcement and underserved communities. She is also the host of Black Coffee—No Sugar, No Cream, a related video platform designed to raise awareness of pressing criminal justice issues. She is a member of the speakers’ bureau of the Law Enforcement Action Partnership (LEAP), which advocates criminal justice and drug policy reform, and a board member and speaker for National Strategies for Justice, an education and training organization with a focus on issues of gender, disability, and racial equity within law enforcement. Sonia is also past chairperson of the National Black Police Association (NBPA) and serves as its representative on the board of directors of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. Sonia is a Professor of Criminal Justice at Montgomery College in Maryland where she co-created and directed the Community-Informed Policing Program, to educate police officers in the expectations of a diverse community in areas such as social justice, policing history, community engagement, and health and wellness. She is also a Professor of Criminal Justice at Howard University in Washington, D.C. As a law enforcement consultant, Sonia speaks on a variety of law enforcement-related issues both in the United States and internationally. You may have seen or heard her honest and bold commentary on platforms such as MSNBC, CNN, BBC, BNC, and NPR.

Maj Neil Franklin, Ret.

Major Neill Franklin (Ret.) is a distinguished figure in law enforcement, boasting a remarkable 34-year career that includes notable positions within both the Maryland State Police and the Baltimore Police Department. Franklin's extensive service began with the Maryland State Police, where he dedicated 23 years of his life to public safety. His exceptional performance led him to be selected in 2000 by the Commissioner of the Baltimore Police Department to reconstruct and lead the Education and Training Section in Baltimore.

 Throughout his tenure with the Maryland State Police, Franklin made significant contributions, notably serving as the commander of the Education and Training Division and the Bureau of Drug and Criminal Enforcement. He was instrumental in the creation and oversight of the first Domestic Violence Investigative Units for the Maryland State Police, showcasing his commitment to progressive policing practices.

 Franklin's perspective on the War on Drugs was profoundly shaped by the community impacts he witnessed during his career. Influenced by former Baltimore Mayor Kurt Schmoke, who famously criticized the drug war’s violent repercussions, Franklin became a staunch advocate for reform. This commitment was further fueled by the heartbreaking loss of his close friend, Maryland State Police Corporal Ed Toatley, who was killed during an undercover drug operation. This tragedy solidified his resolve to challenge and change ineffective drug policies.

In 2010, Franklin transitioned from active duty to leadership as the Executive Director of the Law Enforcement Action Partnership, a role he held for a decade until his retirement in 2020. Under his guidance, the organization worked towards reshaping public safety strategies and advocating for reformative approaches to drug policy. Major Franklin has presented before an array of audiences, from neighborhood community colleges to the lecture rooms of Harvard and Congress on Capitol Hill. He has become a regular guest on CNN, FOX and MSNBC, appeared in several documentaries and his writings have been printed in the LA Times, Washington Post and New York Times. He is one of the most sought-after criminal justice reform public speakers in the United States. Franklin's expertise in policing has also been recognized in judicial settings, where he has served as an expert witness in both Maryland Circuit and federal district courts. His commitment to community engagement and reform extends beyond his professional duties; he has held positions on various boards, including the Youth & Police Initiative, the Alliance for Safety and Justice, the National Organization of Retired State Troopers, the Faith Based Community Council on Law Enforcement and Intelligence, and TurnAround Inc. among others.

 Through his extensive service and advocacy, Major Neill Franklin has made a lasting impact on law enforcement practices and community safety initiatives, demonstrating a profound commitment to justice and reform.

Officer Ron Hampton Ret.

Ronald E. Hampton is a retired Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Police Department veteran with 23 years of service and former Executive Director of the National Black Police Association. He also served as a Law Enforcement Fellow at the University of the District of Columbia’s Institute for Public Safety and Justice and currently works with families and students as a Family Support Worker for the Georgia Avenue Family Support Collaborative.

Throughout his career, Hampton earned national recognition for his leadership in community policing, crime prevention, and police-community relations. He helped design and deliver community policing and problem-solving programs for residents in public housing and led initiatives focused on crime prevention and alternative community sentencing.

Hampton has collaborated with the U.S. Department of Justice, American University, Amnesty International USA, and the Carter Center’s Human Rights Program, contributing to criminal justice and human rights efforts both domestically and internationally. His work has taken him to Ethiopia, Guyana, Britain, Canada, the Bahamas, and South Africa, where he led a People-to-People Delegation of law enforcement professionals. A longtime advocate for justice and community engagement, Hampton currently serves as President of the D.C. Autism Society and is active in efforts to reimagine public safety through the Institute of the Black World’s Police Justice and Accountability Task Force.

Lt. Ray Rice, Ret.

Ray Rice, is a public safety consultant, educator, military veteran, and retired police lieutenant with 29 years of law enforcement experience. His career has included leadership in patrol operations, violent-crime response, civil-disturbance management, internal investigations, neighborhood policing, and community engagement.

Rice served in supervisory and command roles with the St. Louis County Police Department, where he led complex public-safety operations while balancing officer safety, constitutional rights, organizational accountability, and community trust. As a former Detective Sergeant in the Bureau of Professional Standards, he investigated allegations of employee misconduct and helped identify policy, training, and supervisory issues affecting organizational accountability.

More recently, Rice served as a Constitutional Policing Subject Matter Expert and Training Consultant for the City of Ferguson, helping translate federal consent decree requirements into practical policy, training, documentation, and reform strategies. He is also a partner with Imara Partners, advising public-sector and community stakeholders on public safety, organizational effectiveness, policy implementation, and trust-building.

Rice is a Professor of Criminal Justice at Lindenwood University and a former Second Vice President of the Ethical Society of Police. His work focuses on constitutional policing, accountability, de-escalation, community engagement, and effective public-safety leadership.

Naureen Shah

Naureen Shah is the Director of Government Affairs, Equality Division at the American Civil Liberties Union, where she leads the ACLU’s immigration policy and advocacy work. She is a human rights lawyer with history as an advocate, researcher and campaigner. Naureen has lobbied Congress, the White House, federal agencies, foreign governments, and human rights bodies, and she is the author of several reports and commentaries on immigration and human rights — including Deputized for Disaster and License to Abuse, which focus on the harms of the 287(g) program and its rapid expansion and transformation. 

Moderated by Terry Watson

Mr. Terry Watson is an award-winning author, educator, and is the founder of Strategies for Justice. Mr. Watson went on to establish Strategies For Justice (SFJ), a speaking and training bureau that believes unveiling untold narratives of injustice can lead to change. SFJ seeks to help communities build strategies for justice by utilizing the power of stories as a foundation for reform. We look to work with communities, organizations, and institutions of higher education with the mission to engage in civil yet meaningful dialogue.

Working from the foundation set by Strategies for Justice, we recruit and collaborates with others who are willing to tell their narratives, intersecting race, ability, and gender with law enforcement. These stories come from those currently working in or are retired from law enforcement or who have had a positive, progressive impact on identifying, breaking down, and eliminating injustices and inequalities.