SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — A retired San Diego police SWAT commander who has traveled across the country observing protests says federal law enforcement officers face unique challenges when interacting with the public during civil unrest.
Ray Shay, who spent 24 years with the San Diego Police Department, recently observed federal officers in Portland outside an ICE facility. His observations come as Minneapolis grapples with the shooting death of ICU nurse Alex Pretti, who was killed by a Border Patrol agent over the weekend.
"Heartbreaking and absolutely devastating to so many people," Shay said of the recent shooting.
The weekend shooting adds to tensions that have been building over several weeks in Minneapolis, where protests have erupted following the incident.
Shay, a former SWAT commander and former lethal force instructor at the San Diego Regional Police Academy, has observed law enforcement responses during times of civil unrest, including the 2020 George Floyd protests. Over the last year, he spent time in Los Angeles and, most recently, in Portland observing federal law enforcement and how they interact with people protesting immigration enforcement.
"I was able to observe the federal officers and how they interacted with the crowds, the techniques that they used to approach the crowds," Shay said.
Through his observations, Shay says he's noticed differences in training between local and federal law enforcement agencies. He says federal officers often lack experience in crowd control and in public interaction scenarios.
"Their expertise is border enforcement, which is a very narrow slice of interacting with people," Shay said.
He added that federal officers face communication challenges when dealing with the general public.
"They are challenged to communicate specifically what their goals are, what they want to achieve, and interact with the general public because that's not what they do every day," Shay said.
Regarding the weekend shooting, Shay emphasized the importance of allowing the investigation to proceed while acknowledging the community's strong feelings about the incident.
"We will get through this together, as a community, but we just need to encourage people to give it time, to get the full investigation completed," Shay said.
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