In August 2019, San Diego Police Detective James Needham handed off a shooting victim to federal immigration authorities. Needham was supposed to be investigating the shooting, but in the weeks that followed, he stopped looking into the case and repeatedly lied about his work, according to a police Internal Affairs report.
Needham’s behavior violated several police department policies, the report states. His actions also appear to be illegal under California law, which limits police’s cooperation with federal immigration agents.