At the Whitefish City Council meeting last week, citizens continued the conversation about the detainment of a Venezuelan immigrant living legally in Kalispell by the Border Patrol after a traffic stop in Whitefish last month. 

John Ratka Skinner spoke to the council about the detainment of Beker Rengifo del Castillo from April 24-30, and the part played by the Whitefish Police Department. He read the definition of biased-based policing, an inappropriate reliance on actual or perceived characteristics, including race and ethnicity among others. 

“Officer Hingiss made a deliberate and wholly discretionary decision to call Border Patrol during his stop of Mr. Rengifo Del Castillo,” said Ratka Skinner, Rengifo del Castillo’s sponsor.  

He said it seemed the officer called Border Patrol because of Rengifo del Castillo’s lack of English and his ethnicity.  

He said an article in the Daily Inter Lake and an editorial written by Councilor Giuseppe Caltabiano, “suggest that the police department is trying to walk a very fine semantic line in claiming that the actions of this officer were not racially motivated.” 

Ratka Skinner claimed members of the Latino community are avoiding Whitefish based on the actions of the Police Department and they are questioning the trustworthiness of the police. 

He said that having brown skin and not speaking English is not reasonable suspicion, and he asked the council to continue investigating the incident “until satisfactory explanations and policy changes are provided.” 

Kalispell resident and immigration advocate, Rebecca Miller, said it sounded as though the Whitefish Police Department’s new policy was that an officer would contact a supervisor before calling Border Patrol. However, her understanding is that the call to Border Patrol would happen before a supervisor is contacted. 

“I would really like to know, from the city, what goes into establishing reasonable suspicion or probable cause of criminal immigration violations,” she said. “It should be something that is understandable to the public.”  

Caltabiano said he’s been Italian for most of his life and a U.S. citizen for six years.  

“I understand, intimately, the not being American, the coming here to this country, the becoming American, being thankful for this country,” he said.  

He said some of the most impressive things about this country are the concepts of due process, evidence, and the proper collection of evidence. He maintains his support for the officer involved in the incident. 

“I have not seen a single piece of evidence that proves that this officer committed racial profiling, called Border Patrol for translation. I think I know he didn’t do that,” Caltabiano said. “Seeing one of my officers being accused unjustly, hurts me, as a servant to my community.  

“We should not let assumptions replace justice,” he added. “Neither side.” 

Councilor Rebecca Norton agreed with Caltabiano that it is important to support the police officers. 

“There's a part of policing where things are held in confidence, for a reason,” she said. “Crimes are always dealt with lots of privacy ... because, hopefully, we still have the goal of innocence until proven guilty.” 

Whitefish Deputy Mayor Frank Sweeney averred his belief in the Whitefish Police force, “their good intentions and their good works.” 

“There is nothing that we have seen and that [Police Chief Bridger Kelch] has shared that would indicate that officer, in any form or fashion, profiled this man to stop him,” he said. “It just wasn’t even part of the deal.” 

He said that while it is acceptable for the community to have questions and even to speculate, he reiterated that nothing untoward happened. 

Contrary to what Norton had pointed out, Sweeney said no details of the incident have been kept secret. 

“There’s been no secrets held. There’s nothing that hasn’t been published,” Sweeney said, admitting feelings of disappointment over the event. “This was not a problem of our making or initiation. It was a bad deal, and the bad judgment was all on Border Patrol and ICE. We could do nothing about it. It had nothing to do with us.” 

Councilor Steve Qunell said Whitefish has some of the best police officers in the state and that they practice community policing. Still, he asked for transparency. 

“The more transparent we can be in this whole matter, the better off it’ll be for our community,” Qunell said. “It was an injustice that was done and where we place that blame, we have to be very careful.”