SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – Tomorrow night, the Escondido City Council will be given a presentation by the Escondido Police Department about its firing range and the contracts associated with it.
“So I think there was a lot of confusion in the beginning. People were worried about immigration enforcement officers using the shooting range,” Mayor Dane White of Escondido said.
As ABC 10News reported at the end of last month, the Escondido Police Department renewed a roughly $67,000 dollar contract with the Department of Homeland Security.
Escondido Police said the original contract with ICE started in 2024 and was renewed by the department this January to allow ICE agents to do weapons training at the firing range.
On Wednesday, the city will review the department's current contracts with the firing range.
“I think that that's what most of us are looking forward to tomorrow, because this has been very confusing,” White said. “The contract does make it seem like these are going to be immigration enforcement officers. But after speaking with the chief, my understanding is that it's HSI only and the immigration enforcement officers will be going somewhere else.”
After ABC 10News spoke with Mayor White, we asked the Escondido Police Department to confirm who is using the range.
Escondido PD told ABC 10News that the department has been told that only Homeland Security Investigations, a division within ICE, has been using the range, not those from the Enforcement and Removal Office of ICE.
There’s been pushback from those in the community, like Richard Cannon, about the contract and calling for the City to end it.
“Every person's voice counts. And it, it's definitely making a difference in, and having them realize just how many people there are that do not want this,uh,contract to be signed,” Cannon said.
Cannon created the Change.org petition calling for the city’s contract with ice to be cancelled.
“We're hoping that everybody comes out to share their stories of how this contract and the city inviting ICE agents into the community affects them personally. And then have the city listen and respond accordingly,” Cannon said.
I asked mayor white what he has to say to those who are still calling for the contract to be canceled.
“We have delegated the day-to-day responsibilities to the city manager who then delegates it, as he sees fit. And there's a reason contracts under $200,000 don't ever come to my desk or come to the city council, and that's because we've entrusted them to make the right decision,” White said. “So, us canceling the contract or taking action in that kind of a manner would be a line that has yet to be crossed at the City, and it's something that we would have to deliberate a lot at the city council meeting.”
Wednesday’s meeting starts at 5 pm at Escondido City Hall.
