Washington, D.C., police officers will now be able to assist federal immigration authorities by sharing information about people who are not in police custody and by transporting federal immigration agents and detained individuals, according to a new order signed by Metropolitan Police Department chief Pamela Smith and published Thursday.

The order represents a shift from the Metropolitan Police Department's previous policy, which limited cooperation between the department and federal immigration authorities. D.C. law still prohibits local law enforcement in the nation's capital from sharing information about people being held in D.C. custody with immigration officers.

Smith's order does not alter the current D.C. policy barring police officers from searching databases solely to

See Full Page