AMHERST — One resident is suggesting that any time federal Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents are active in Amherst, town officials should immediately call a hotline that activates a network of immigrant-rights advocates.

Another resident is appealing to town leaders to train Amherst Police as soon as possible so officers can head out to 911 calls about ICE agents in town, and then confront them.

Following incidents in which two residents were taken into custody by ICE on the morning of May 28, several residents used the public comment during last week’s Town Council meeting to request a more involved response from the town.

“There is a middle ground between being an accomplice to evil and standing by while evil is being done and not intervening,” said Vincent O’Connor of Summer Street, adding that there should be a way to educate and train police so they can legitimately response to “the evil of ICE’s profound abuse of its authority.”

Without getting insights from experts in the field and informed opinions about what police departments can do and the policies they can develop, O’Connor said the risk is to either descend into submission or vigilantism as ICE agents break down doors and round people up.

“The middle course between that is to have an educated, empowered police force that will appropriately intervene and protect citizens from the excesses of ICE conduct,” O’Connor said.

“We need to have a way for people who are trained, armed and so forth (to confront) others who are also trained and armed, we should not be doing this ourselves,” he said.

Marjorie Levenson, of North Pleasant Street, who is part of the region’s rapid response network, said Town Manager Paul Bockelman or Police Chief Gabe Ting should call the network of allies for immigrants if ICE, Department of Homeland Security or other federal officers are in town on immigration-related matters.

“Please help the rapid response network do our job,” Levenson said. “The LUCE hotline should be called whenever you determine ICE is present in our community.”

Krista Oesterling Rising of Shays Street said she would support anything up to and including forming a human barrier by lining arms to protect someone subject to being taken into custody by ICE, and making a citizens arrest of an ICE officer.

“If the police are doing something illegal, something has to be done,” Oesterling Rising said.

She said she also understands, though, that local police are under stress. “I want to do this but also be supportive of police,” Oesterling Rising said.

Bockelman told councilors that, as soon as the incidents had been confirmed, the community was provided information.

“We found out about the incidents by happenstance,” Bockelman said. “ICE did not inform the town in advance.”

He explained that in one case an officer was traveling by a vehicle that had been pulled over by ICE agents and was informed about what was happening. In the other case, security cameras in a parking lot picked up the interaction.

Bockelman said both incidents happened quickly and were terrifying events for the individuals, their families and both residents and employees of the town.

“When we heard about it in our community, it just sent shivers through everyone who works for the town, and it was just not the kind of country we think we live in right now,” Bockelman said.

Councilors asked for details about whether Amherst being a sanctuary community can help yield answers.

District 5 Councilor Bob Hegner asked if there is any legal way to get ICE to identify the agents it has working in town, or to provide this information.

“We’ve got people basically walking onto our streets and grabbing people off our streets, and we have no idea who these people are,” Hegner said.

Bockelman said there seems little that can be done legally, even amid concerns with the federal authorities being heavily armed and wearing masks.

“I’m told there is nothing we can do if someone is a federal agent and they say they have a warrant and are picking up somebody,” Bockelman said.

Bockelman said he has had conversations with Gov. Maura Healey, representatives from U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern’s office and other state officials.

“We’re fairly limited in what our officers or any one of us can do, in many ways private citizens have more leeway in what they can do,” he said, observing that whatever passive resistance they want to do, such as filming incidents, is legal.

Bockelman said Tuesday that he listened to and will consider all information provided by those who commented publicly to councilors. He said there are various hotlines and organizations that could be notified, and police have protocols that need to be followed.

Council President Lynn Griesemer said no councilors have yet requested that this become an agenda item for a more detailed discussion.

District 2 Councilor Pat De Angelis concluded the meeting by speaking about the need to resist tyranny and authoritarianism that includes threats from the Department of Homeland Security about revoking funding and punishing sanctuary communities. This, she said, is being done illegally to benefit white supremacist billionaires, who are also usurping people’s rights.

“ICE agents, government hooligans, are roaming our streets, terrifying residents, kidnapping members of our community and denying them due process,” De Angelis said.