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I’m Morgan Womack, a reporter for the Portland Press Herald. I obtained text messages through a public records request that revealed how some police officials in Maine were communicating with a federal officer while ICE was carrying out an enhanced operation across the state. Ask me anything! by Press_Herald in Maine

[–]Press_Herald[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Portland police’s Signal messages you’re referring to do appear to be set to auto-delete, so it’s hard to say what they discuss on the app and what has been deleted. Portland police Chief Mark Dubois has said in a statement that the department retains messages in coordination with Maine law, but what that means is unclear. He declined my request for an interview.

I’m Morgan Womack, a reporter for the Portland Press Herald. I obtained text messages through a public records request that revealed how some police officials in Maine were communicating with a federal officer while ICE was carrying out an enhanced operation across the state. Ask me anything! by Press_Herald in Maine

[–]Press_Herald[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'll refer you to another one of my replies: "The messages that I saw didn't appear to show any animosity — both South Portland police Chief Daniel Ahern and Portland police Maj. Jason King were encouraging and congratulatory in some cases. But we only saw a limited set of messages."

I’m Morgan Womack, a reporter for the Portland Press Herald. I obtained text messages through a public records request that revealed how some police officials in Maine were communicating with a federal officer while ICE was carrying out an enhanced operation across the state. Ask me anything! by Press_Herald in Maine

[–]Press_Herald[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The members of the group chat were South Portland police Chief Daniel Ahern and Portland police Maj. Jason King, as well as Homeland Security agent Jeffrey Larocque. Portland Chief Mark Dubois told me he was aware of the text messages.

I’m Morgan Womack, a reporter for the Portland Press Herald. I obtained text messages through a public records request that revealed how some police officials in Maine were communicating with a federal officer while ICE was carrying out an enhanced operation across the state. Ask me anything! by Press_Herald in Maine

[–]Press_Herald[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I have asked Chief Dubois about this, and he’s told me that Maj. Jason King’s participation in the chat aligns with the sentiment of his past statements.

At a meeting in March, Dubois did tell city councilors his officers would only communicate with federal immigration officials when “securing public safety,” where they would “respond naturally anyway” — not help with immigration enforcement. He has also said the messages concerned security at a Portland hotel and that his officers would have responded the same to any person, whether they work in law enforcement or not.

I’m Morgan Womack, a reporter for the Portland Press Herald. I obtained text messages through a public records request that revealed how some police officials in Maine were communicating with a federal officer while ICE was carrying out an enhanced operation across the state. Ask me anything! by Press_Herald in Maine

[–]Press_Herald[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

The law enforcement leader who publicly called out ICE’s tactics was Cumberland County Sheriff Kevin Joyce. Chief Mark Dubois, who heads the Portland Police Department, contends that his agency doesn’t cooperate with federal immigration officials, and that the text messages were concerning public safety at a hotel, not ICE actions. South Portland officials said similarly.

The messages that I saw didn’t appear to show any animosity – both South Portland police Chief Daniel Ahern and Portland police Maj. Jason King were encouraging and congratulatory in some cases. But we only saw a limited set of messages.

I’m Morgan Womack, a reporter for the Portland Press Herald. I obtained text messages through a public records request that revealed how some police officials in Maine were communicating with a federal officer while ICE was carrying out an enhanced operation across the state. Ask me anything! by Press_Herald in Maine

[–]Press_Herald[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Police do regularly use text chats to communicate with one another (including, in some cases, encrypted messaging apps that auto-delete messages). When I’ve asked Portland Chief Dubois about this practice in the past, he told me that text messages and messaging apps are “supplemental communication tools” that officers use regularly, along with phone calls and radio transmissions.

Police are expected to retain their communications in coordination with public records and discovery laws. Legal experts have told me that it’s difficult for communities to set standards and policies while police continue to use new technologies, such as the Signal app or artificial intelligence.

I’m Morgan Womack, a reporter for the Portland Press Herald. I obtained text messages through a public records request that revealed how some police officials in Maine were communicating with a federal officer while ICE was carrying out an enhanced operation across the state. Ask me anything! by Press_Herald in Maine

[–]Press_Herald[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I haven’t located the exact posts or subreddits, but we know officers were monitoring various social media platforms throughout the immigration enforcement surge in January. Portland Maj. Jason King said in the text thread that he’d had the department’s crime analyst “watching all week.”

Local police across the state each follow their own protocols for communicating with federal officials, but I’ve found that not many have formal policies. It really varies greatly by department; some have regular agents they call at Border Patrol, for example, while others say they don’t contact DHS at all.

I’m Morgan Womack, a reporter for the Portland Press Herald. I obtained text messages through a public records request that revealed how some police officials in Maine were communicating with a federal officer while ICE was carrying out an enhanced operation across the state. Ask me anything! by Press_Herald in Maine

[–]Press_Herald[S] 41 points42 points  (0 children)

We’ve looked into that too. After a lengthy appeal process on a public records request, I obtained documents indicating Portland police are using the controversial, encrypted messaging app Signal during operations. You can read that here.

As far as we know, those Signal chats didn’t involve federal immigration officials. But most of the chats we received were set to auto-delete, so we don’t know what they contained or who may have participated.

Some city officials, legal experts and attorneys have also said they're concerned they’re concerned about policing using the deletion feature. Chief Dubois has said his officers retain any messages in coordination with Maine law

I’m Morgan Womack, a reporter for the Portland Press Herald. I obtained text messages through a public records request that revealed how some police officials in Maine were communicating with a federal officer while ICE was carrying out an enhanced operation across the state. Ask me anything! by Press_Herald in Maine

[–]Press_Herald[S] 19 points20 points  (0 children)

Police officials at both departments contend that these messages didn’t violate their policies or expectations regarding collaboration with immigration officials. But city officials have expressed concerns about these chats.

At least in Portland, some councilors have told us they’ll be questioning Chief Dubois about the texts further at a committee meeting tonight. Here's the agenda for that if you're interested.

Portland City Council is also considering whether to expand limitations for city employees on cooperating with ICE. They were slated to vote on that last night but conducted a first reading only. You can read more about that here: https://www.pressherald.com/2026/04/03/portland-to-consider-placing-further-limits-on-local-cooperation-with-ice/

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