San Diego council member asks Escondido to end ICE use of police training facility

A San Diego City Council member running for Congress is calling on Escondido to cancel its contract with the federal government that allows Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to train at the Escondido Police Department’s outdoor shooting range.

“City resources should be used to keep all communities safe — not to train Trump’s deportation forces,” said San Diego Councilmember Marni von Wilpert, who is one of nearly a dozen candidates for the 48th Congressional District seat held by Rep. Darrell Issa.

ICE is one of about a dozen local, state and federal agencies that sometimes use the city’s firearms training facility, Escondido police Capt. Erik Witholt said Sunday.

“We do not train with them, we do not train them,” Witholt said. “They pay us to use the facility… One of our staff members goes out and unlocks the gate, then locks the gate when they’re done.”

Witholt did not know how many or how often ICE agents use the facility. All law enforcement officers are required to train periodically with the firearms they carry.

Von Wilpert said in a news release Saturday that she learned of the ICE contract from a story published Jan. 22 in the Los Angeles online magazine LA Taco.

Escondido awarded the one-year contract to the Department of Homeland Security on Jan. 14, effective Jan. 15, for $22,500 with two optional one-year extensions for a potential total of $67,500. A copy provided by the city shows it was signed by Police Chie...