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Resident urges council to end DHS contract with county prison and adopt safeguards for federal deployments
Summary
A Mill Creek Township resident asked Erie County Council to terminate a Department of Homeland Security contract with the Erie County Prison and proposed local policies—body cameras for federal agents, identification requirements, bans on certain crowd-control measures near sensitive sites, and emergency planning exercises.
Heidi Shattuck, a Mill Creek Township resident, used the Oct. 21 public-comment period to ask the council to terminate the county’s contract with the Department of Homeland Security and to consider local safeguards against uninvited federal deployments.
Shattuck referenced the creation of DHS in 2003 and criticized recent federal deployments in other cities. She asked council to identify mechanisms under its authority to protect Erie County residents, including empowering a commission or task force to review local code and adopting policies such as requiring body-worn cameras and personal identification for military and federal agents; prohibiting face masks and chemical agents near schools, hospitals and daycares; and mandating emergency planning exercises.
"I don't want my local government profiting from a contract with an agency committing daily acts of violence, cruelty, lawlessness, and abuse of power," Shattuck said, and asked the council to consider proactive policies to protect residents. The transcript records this as public comment; the council did not take formal action on the request during the meeting.
