The Globe reported that the Boston police handed over at least nine people to immigration officials for deportation, abusing a loophole in the Trust Act, a law intended to protect Boston’s immigrant residents by barring local cops from getting involved in immigration enforcement (“Loophole in act a threat to immigrants,” A1, Jan. 2).

This is a clear overreach, and a perfect example of why we cannot trust the Boston Police Department with the $1.4 million worth of social-media monitoring software that they have said they intend to purchase.

Police officials have refused to commit to transparency about how they would use these new surveillance tools, which would enable them to constantly scan and analyze online activity in the area.