By: Gary Winkelman | Sterling Heights Sentry | Published February 23, 2026
STERLING HEIGHTS — City law enforcement partnerships with federal crime-fighting agencies has drawn extra attention following Mayor Michael Taylor’s recent criticism of the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration policies.
Taylor has questioned whether the U.S. government’s current values align with the city’s, and he’s called for an end to loaning local officers to federal forces. However, his push to pull city personnel from such assignments lacks support from fellow elected officials and the status quo is unlikely to change. Taylor has repeatedly said his opposition to agencies like ICE and the U.S. Border Patrol is not criticism of the city’s police force.
Sterling Heights police currently have three detectives assigned to the Drug Enforcement Agency and another to the FBI Violent Crimes Task Force.
Police Chief Andrew Satterfield said sharing resources with federal task forces isn’t anything new and that it is common practice in many communities. Collaboration, he said, is a key part of law enforcement.
“It gives our agency all these resources that we wouldn’t have access to,” Satterfield said. “And then it also gives the federal agencies task force officers to help in their aspects of fighting crime. And there’s a lot of major crime happening. We’re not in a silo in Sterling Heights.
Some of the major criminals are across the southeast Michigan region and even beyond that — nationwide. So to partner with our different federal agencies, we help curtail all that.”
Satterfield pointed to an alleged terrorist attack in Dearborn the FBI thwarted around Halloween last year as an example of successful collaboration among agencies.“
We have an individual assigned to the FBI task force. He also helped in that investigation,” Satterfield said. “So although Sterling Heights wasn’t the target of that, our resources of manpower helped curtail that event in Dearborn, which could have easily been a Sterling Heights target, and then other task force agents and other jurisdictions would be helping that investigation.”
Sterling Heights Police Lt. Aaron Susalla offered another example in which a suspect who robbed a Sterling Heights bank last summer was quickly apprehended.
“There was a bank robbery off of Van Dyke,” he said. “And when that happened, a detective that’s assigned to (the FBI) task force was able to utilize their resources, their databases, and the people on their task force, and work with Shelby Township police. They had the suspect in custody within the hour because we were able to call on all of these persons.”
A spokesperson from the FBI’s Detroit Field Office agreed that cooperation among law enforcement agencies translates to safer communities.
“Speaking specifically to the value of the FBI working with local police departments, our partnerships with local police departments are vital. Task forces have repeatedly shown how effective it is when federal, state, and local agencies work together to tackle specific crime issues or threats. By combining our resources, intelligence and expertise, we strengthen our collective ability to safeguard the communities we serve.”
Sterling Heights Mayor Pro Tem Liz Sierawski said although she respects Taylor’s position on the relationship between local police and outside agencies, she is against his call to end that cooperation.
“I do support our alliances with the federal government,” she said at a Feb. 3 City Council meeting. “We need those alliances and partnerships … to coordinate with us on things that are big.”
Satterfield said the Police Department appreciates that elected officials recognize the value of federal partnerships.
“At the end of the day, we do what the administration asks us to do,” he said. “So we appreciate the support of all of the council, and I believe that they all want Sterling to be as safe as possible.”