LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell is firing back at mayoral hopeful Nithya Raman after her repeated threats to give him the boot, blasting her accusations that his department is cozying up to ICE and alienating immigrant communities.

The veteran top cop, who has spent 45 years in Los Angeles law enforcement, shrugged off the political attacks while delivering a blistering rebuttal to Raman’s claims that his officers have helped federal immigration authorities target Angelenos.

“I’ve got thick skin. I’ve been doing this for 45 years,” McDonnell told ABC7, acknowledging that his decades in law enforcement have prepared him for political mudslinging.

“It’s ugly, you and some people take it to an extreme and do things they can’t take back later.”

The explosive war of words comes as Raman, a Los Angeles city councilwoman challenging Mayor Karen Bass, has vowed to oust McDonnell if elected, despite his term running through 2030.

At the center of the bitter feud are Raman’s allegations that the LAPD has secretly shared sensitive information with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, potentially putting undocumented immigrants at risk.

“There have been reports, credible reports, that LAPD has actually shared information with ICE, including information from our fingerprint databases and through Flock cameras,” Raman told the outlet.

But McDonnell flatly rejected the accusations, insisting the department is prohibited by California law from assisting federal immigration enforcement.

“Not at all,” he said when asked whether his officers were working with ICE. “We work very closely with all of our federal partners, but we don’t work with any of them on immigration enforcement. It’s as easy as that.”

McDonnell explained that the department is legally required to send fingerprints collected during arrests to the California Department of Justice, which subsequently shares the information with a national federal database.

That process, he insisted, is crucial for identifying fugitives who cross state lines, not evidence of the LAPD helping ICE conduct immigration raids.

The chief also pushed back on claims involving Flock license plate cameras, saying the LAPD distanced itself from the technology over concerns about protecting civil liberties.

Bass backed her police chief, dismissing Raman’s allegations that the department was operating on ICE’s behalf.

“It is not true,” the mayor told ABC7.

McDonnell also took aim at Raman’s contention that his leadership has shattered trust between police and Los Angeles’ immigrant communities.

“Well, that’s kind of painful,” he admitted, pointing to his nearly half-century working in the region.

The chief noted that 57% of the LAPD’s sworn officers are Latino, along with more than half its civilian employees.

“And so we mirror the community that we serve and the members of this department come from our community,” he said.

In separate comments to the California Post, McDonnell challenged Raman to provide evidence supporting her sweeping criticism.

“I would challenge somebody: Is that a handful of activists talking, or is that, you know, a greater feeling of discomfort in the bigger community?” he said.

The chief, whose parents immigrated from Ireland, maintained that protecting immigrant communities remains central to the department’s mission.

“Our mission is to protect communities, not conduct immigration enforcement,” he said.

The mayoral showdown has also ignited a fierce dispute over the LAPD’s shrinking ranks and ballooning costs.

Raman accused city leaders of spending an additional $500 million while employing 1,500 fewer officers.

McDonnell countered that competitive salaries are essential to attracting recruits as police departments nationwide battle for qualified candidates.

He also pointed to falling crime, citing a 10.1% decline in overall crime and a 9.1% drop in homicides this year.

Meanwhile, Bass has blasted her challenger’s plan to replace McDonnell ahead of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, warning that the lengthy process of finding a new chief could leave the city scrambling before the international spectacle.

“I think that she doesn’t have a clue what is needed in terms of recruiting and hiring a police chief,” Bass said.

The mayor, whose search for McDonnell took 10 months, called the prospect of installing a replacement just six months before the Games “insanity.”

Raman has not identified a potential successor or committed to a timeline for replacing McDonnell, saying the decision would require input from the Police Commission and City Council.

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